Stepping through the portal from the Heroes of Lisbon's lab the next day, Chloe appeared next in the back bedroom of a decently-sized apartment in Avilés, with Zoe following close behind her. Looking around as the portal whooshed closed behind them, Chloe took in the modestly-appointed furnishings of the room, which had been set up as an office, albeit with the portal ring affixed to one wall. Desk in one corner, bookcase next to it with a few books and knickknacks resting on it, a couple chairs, as well as a hot pad on the desk. On the other side of the room, a small keypad had been attached to the door where the knob should be. Stepping further into the room and looking around cautiously, Chloe furrowed her brows, holding her hand up behind her as Zoe made to follow her. There was another moment of silence, and Chloe jumped on hearing a soft, petulant crying that through the closed door from elsewhere in the apartment. Stopping by the door, Chloe cocked her head in confusion and called out softly, "Peregrino?" Then, louder. "Peregrino?"

Muffled voices came from elsewhere in the apartment; Chloe glanced back at Zoe and shrugged. After a moment, the keypad beeped several times and the bedroom door opened with a click. Smiling, Francisco poked his head in, looked at Chloe in confusion, furrowed his brows, and glanced down at his watch. "Oh, mierda," he muttered, grimacing and smacking his forehead. "Lo siento, señorita Chloe. I knew that you and your sister were coming, but I have been so busy lately, I completely lost track of the time."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him in an invitation to continue. "That's alright," she replied. "If this is a bad time…"

"No, no," he answered, waving his hand dismissively and gesturing for them to follow. "Come in, come in. Although we have only been home from the hospital for a few hours."

Zoe's eyes widened. "I hope everything is okay!"

Francisco grinned. "Everything is perfect," he assured them. "Better than perfect, in fact! Actually, this is the second-happiest day of my life! Everything went absolutely perfectly; they kept him overnight, but we got to bring him home today!"

Zoe furrowed her brows. "I'm sorry?"

Chloe nodded in realization. "The baby – he was just born yesterday?" Francisco nodded, bouncing up and down. Chloe glanced past him. "And how is your… girlfriend?"

"Fiancée, actually," he corrected her, gesturing for them to follow him out of the bedroom office.

"Sorry; I didn't see a ring at the wedding, so I assumed…"

"It's… a new thing," he admitted. "After the trip to Athens, I got home and we talked, and…" He shrugged. "We want to make a life together, so we decided we're going to get married – just as soon as Marina has recovered from yesterday. Father Álvarez said he will officiate the wedding and perform the baptism, all at the same time. We'd been planning to have the wedding first, but… I guess Jose had other plans."

"You're a father?" Zoe stared at him in shock. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you…"

"Zoe."

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Zoe." Francisco grinned. "It's – well, I don't know what else to say. It's such an incredible experience, and it's been less than a day!"

"So, how is Marina, then?" asked Chloe. "Is she going to be okay with us being here? We could come back another day."

"Oh, she is amazing, absolutely amazing." He sighed. "But, then, I already knew that. She was exhausted after it was all over, but the doctor said that was to be expected. Jose came without any complications, and Marina recovered quickly – they sent her home yesterday, not much more than an hour or two after he was born. They kept Jose for observation overnight, but they said it was just a precaution. Since getting home, he has cried some, but…" He paused as the crying stopped in the next bedroom. Francisco let out a relieved breath. "There we go. Do you want to come and see him?"

Chloe shrugged, glancing back at Zoe, who wore a look of extreme interest on her face. "Sure," Chloe agreed. "But only if it's really okay."

"Of course, of course!"

In the small nursery they had set up in one of the other two bedrooms, Marina stood next to a crib where a tiny baby with a shock of dark hair lay, fast asleep with his fist in his mouth. Marina looked down at him enraptured, not glancing up when Francisco entered the room. Chloe hesitated in the doorway, not wanting to disturb the peaceful scene. Francisco wrapped his arms around Marina, who leaned back into his chest, letting out a relieved sigh and closing her eyes. Chloe's stomach tightened.

Only another four or five months, and this could be Max and Sabrina.

"I guess you just needed to step out," Marina murmured, turning her head slightly and smiling impishly up at Francisco. "He went right to sleep as soon as you left." Her brows furrowed. "What was that about?"

"We actually have visitors," he explained, pressing a kiss to her lips and nodding toward the door. "From Paris."

Marina half-jumped, turned to face Chloe and Zoe, both still standing in the doorway, with surprise on her face. "O–oh!" Marina yelped before covering her mouth and glancing down into the crib nervously. The baby continued to sleep peacefully, and Marina sighed in relief before looking over her blouse and grimacing, running a hand down her front in a vain attempt to smooth the wrinkles. "Señorita Chloe, I…"

Chloe waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it," she assured her, keeping her voice low. "If your fiancé had told us that you had just given birth yesterday, I would have rescheduled. I'm sure you need time to rest and recover after yesterday" She gave Francisco a severe look, and he grimaced sheepishly.

Marina nodded hesitantly. "Actually, I'm feeling better now than I had expected," she replied. "Although advance warning would have been appreciated."

"If I had remembered, I would have told you," Francisco assured her. "But in yesterday's excitement, I completely forgot."

Finally, Zoe stepped fully into the room, looking down into the crib with wide eyes for a long moment before looking back up at Marina and Francisco. "Your baby – he's beautiful," she whispered.

Marina smiled, reaching down and running a finger along the side of the baby's face. "He is, isn't he? Every time I look away, I'm amazed that this baby… he came from us." She paused, looking Zoe up and down, and furrowed her brows. "I'm sorry; I don't think we've met…"

"My name is Zoe; I'm Chloe's sister," she replied, holding out a hand. "I've been coming with her on some of her trips. For… moral support?" She glanced back at Chloe hesitantly, who nodded with a shrug.

Marina's eyes widened, looking back and forth between them. "Really? I… didn't realize Chloe had a sister."

Chloe quirked an eyebrow in amusement. "Apparently you haven't been paying attention to the news the last week or so – though I can understand why not…" she added under her breath.

"It's a new thing," Zoe explained, her cheeks turning red.

"Well, it's nice to make your acquaintance, Zoe."

Stepping back, Chloe glanced past Marina at Francisco, who nodded and extricated himself from Marina's arms. Tiptoeing to avoid waking the sleeping baby, Francisco moved to join her in the hallway, still looking into the nursery to watch Marina and Zoe. "You really could have rescheduled," Chloe pointed out softly, nodding past him toward Marina and Zoe as they moved down the hallway, closer to the office with the portal.

He nodded, his shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry. If I'd thought about it yesterday, I would have called to postpone. Still, I'm glad you're here. There are some things we ought to discuss – and not all of them can wait."

Chloe cocked her head to one side. "What's going on?" Her brows furrowed, a calculating look appearing on her face. "Is it something with the other Iberian heroes?"

He shook his head quickly. "No – or not specifically," he assured her. "No, actually… I wanted to ask you that question: what has been going on in Paris? I realize you've been trying to rebuild since the Tarasque, but I expected to hear more – especially about all those super-criminals. But I haven't heard anything about your Lynchpin since before the wedding. I thought Adrien or Marinette might mention him in Athens, but they seemed a little… otherwise occupied. Plus, there was the Night Bat's reappearance. And that sorcerer. But what's the latest on the Lynchpin? I do at least see you got your miraculous back from that Lila Rossi person – I'm glad to see that!"

Chloe grinned, gesturing toward her hair comb. "I did! And we are still making at least a little progress in tracking down the rest of the Lynchpin's people. Not much, though, since Lila's arrest. There were several other criminals who had been working with her, but most of them are in hiding. We did at least manage to capture one of her supporters in the chaos of her escape from Paris. But, with luck, we'll manage to roll up the rest of the Lynchpin's people soon enough. But they haven't been active at all recently. Officially, the Lynchpin isn't anywhere. But we aren't letting our guard down at all."

"Glad to hear it," he told her, sighing in relief.

"But how are things in Spain these days?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Surprisingly, I think everything has been going well lately," he told her. "And it might even be thanks to you."

Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh? And how is that?"

"I think that having to work together against Lila Rossi actually helped us some," Francisco explained. "El Caballero and I have met up a few times since then to talk about ways that we can help each other out – that mobile was a gift from him, actually," he added, pointing to the rotating mobile directly above the crib.

"Glad to hear that," Chloe answered, nodding slowly. "Considering all the madness that happened in Pamplona, it's good to see that you're actually working together a little more. But what about with Euzkadi?"

He shrugged, grimacing. "That's… a bit more complicated," he admitted. "Euskaldun and Teniente have been a bit reluctant to work with us too much since it became official – Euskaldun says that his President is concerned about the image of the Basque heroes joining together with the Spanish ones, even if it is just to deal with international issues. I suggested that maybe we bring the Heroes of Lisbon into some things with us, too: if it's an Iberian team, that could help with the image question."

Chloe hummed. "I don't see any reason that wouldn't work," she agreed, nodding. "Especially if all of you are cooperating on things that are good for all three of your countries, I don't imagine your president being disappointed with that at all."

Francisco grimaced. "Now we just need to convince him of that!"