To Lyger 0: Can you say "baby boom"? XD

To Anon: Definitely unexpected, but not by any means unwelcome.

To Geft: Thanks!

Replies to Reviews of "Storm Clouds Rising" Chapter 12:

To Lyger 0: When Marinette curses, you know it's getting serious!

To Anon2018: Don't worry; answers will come…

"The ocean is so blue here!" Marinette's mouth turned up and she let out a relaxing breath, leaning back and closing her eyes to take in the salty tang of the sea air, squeezing her toes in the sandy beach beneath her feet. The gentle lapping of the ocean against the shore the only sound to be heard in the late afternoon pushed away the anxious thoughts that had been running through her mind for the past three days, ever since Aurore returned to the Heroes of Paris fold. Aurore was safe… but that hadn't solved all their problems. The whole train ride, she had been able to think about nothing else – certainly not the new fashion line she was supposed to finish on this trip. The traffic and city noise of Avilés, though not by any means as busy and crowded as Paris, had only served to put her in mind of the chaos she had left behind her. But in the peace and quiet of this beach an hour's drive outside of the city, all her worries seemed to fade away. After a moment, she opened her eyes and pulled out her sketchpad, starting to fill in the dress pattern she had already sketched onto her model figure on the train ride. "Thank you for agreeing to give me the grand tour!"

Marina smiled warmly. "Of course! You and your fiancé have done so much for Francisco and me, this is the least I can do. Plus, I'm glad I got to meet Francisco's… boss?"

Marinette hummed, not taking her focus off of the drawing. The golden yellow of the sand, the deep blue of the ocean, the lighter blue of the sky, illuminated by the orange-yellow of the sun… The colors blended beautifully on her page – it would be incredible in fabric. "Sort of. Officially, Adrien's the owner, but we make pretty much all the major decisions together." The corner of her lip turned up. "Hiring Francisco was originally Adrien's idea."

"We do appreciate it."

"Absolutely!" Marinette switched pencils to the royal blue and made a mark. She frowned – not quite the right color, though close. "I can see why you enjoy coming out here."

Marina nodded in agreement. "It's a little off the beaten path, so not a lot of people really visit this particular beach. Actually, One of our first dates was a trip here with a group of our friends," she told Marinette, a hint of pink coloring her cheeks. "We'd been friends for years already then, ever since Primaria, but until that trip, that's all we had been. Oh, I'd had a crush on Francisco for the longest time, but I was so nervous to say anything – we worked so well as friends, I didn't want to ruin that. But then he finally asked me out – a friend had dared him to do it, I think – and…" she shrugged "that was it. He said afterward that he'd had a crush on me, but he'd just been too scared to do anything about it. But now? We've been together practically ever since." Her mouth turned down into a frown, one of her hands resting on her stomach, and her voice trailed off. "All but…"

"Have you ever gotten the 'a teen romance will never last' comments?" Marinette asked, adding a flourish to the neckline and a matching pattern to the hem and bust. "Adrien and I get those all the time. Paris-Match has had an article predicting that we'll break up every other week."

"A few times…" Marina acknowledged, pursing her lips, staring out to sea. "A couple of my friends don't understand why I'm still with him. Of course, Francisco didn't exactly help matters…"

"Oh?" Marinette cocked her head, finally looking away from the mostly-completed drawing to examine her host's face. Marina's lips were turned down into a frown, and she stood with her shoulders slumped, rubbing her belly with one hand, the baby bump somewhat accentuated by the maternity dress she had worn for their outing. Her other hand hung at her side, opening and closing reflexively. Marinette furrowed her brows suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

Marina let out a breath and turned to look at Marinette. "Oh, I suppose it doesn't really matter now," she began, shrugging. "We're together again, he's going to be in the baby's life, everything is good – better, even. He's matured so much in the last… five months?"

"I'm sorry?"

Marina sighed heavily, looking down at the sand. "When I told him about… well… this," she gestured toward her belly, "he ditched me and disappeared for three months–"

Marinette gasped, her eyes widening in shock, and nearly dropped her clipboard. "He didn't!"

She nodded, sniffling.

"That jerk," muttered Marinette, her eyes narrowing, mouth set in a thin line, gripping her clipboard with white knuckles.

Marina's eyes widened, and she gulped anxiously. "He–he came back, at least," she added quickly. "He – I guess the time away was good for him: he returned from his 'pilgrimage' a changed man. He's so much more mature now than he was when he left. Honestly, who he was then… I look back, and I don't know if I would have wanted to raise a child with him. But now he wants to take responsibility, to be a father, to provide for our baby. I didn't want to let him back into my life when he came back, but now…" She shrugged. "I don't know, I think we're actually going to make this work."

"That's good," Marinette replied, letting out a breath.

Marina eyed her nervously. "I, um, I hope you won't, I don't know…"

"Fire him for abandoning his pregnant girlfriend like that?" Marinette finished, raising an eyebrow. Marina nodded, her eyes wide with fear. "That wasn't exactly why we decided to hire him in the first place, but helping him provide for his family was a motivator," Marinette explained.

"And he has been doing that," Marina assured her quickly, nodding a little too enthusiastically. "He's working really hard – we'll be able to afford everything we need for the baby. And he really has been doing everything right – at–at least since he returned."

Marinette smiled sympathetically. "Marina," she began, "I'm not going to tell Adrien he needs to fire Francisco just because he was a jerk to you in the past. Especially with all the extenuating circumstances involved. And I know that we don't really know each other all that well – I really hope we can fix that – but I do care about you, and about your baby. And Francisco," she added wryly. "That's the kind of business we want Agreste to be – doing what's right for our employees. Adrien's father ran the fashion house and his family like a business; when we took it over, I promised myself that I would never put business ahead of people, that I would treat the business more like a family. So if there is anything, anything at all, that I can do – for you, for Francisco, for the baby – please, let me know."

Marina's eyes widened in surprise. "I – yes. Okay. I, um, I will."

Marinette hummed, nodding slowly. So many people, as soon as they received a miraculous or became a hero, seemed to grow up overnight. She'd seen it happen a dozen times in the last few years – with her friends, with the younger heroes like Leïla, even with M. Damocles once they had (albeit begrudgingly) brought him into the Heroes of Paris. For herself and Adrien, it had almost been a defense mechanism: if they hadn't matured, Hawk Moth would have used their youth and inexperience to destroy them and take the miraculous. For Francisco, it sounded like the responsibility of his miraculous had helped him recognize that he also had a responsibility to Marina and their baby. "I'm glad to hear that the… experience… helped him to mature."

Marina cocked her head to one side, eyeing Marinette suspiciously. "I am, too…"

"So," Marinette continued, gesturing to Marina's belly, "how is the pregnancy? The baby is doing okay? No complications?"

Marina smiled, looking down. "It's… incredible. At first, I was completely terrified – I wasn't ready to be a mother. When Francisco left, it was such a huge blow. I was still going to do it, but I didn't know how I could – not until Francisco came back. But now… It's so absolutely amazing! I feel him moving pretty regularly now. He's definitely healthy, and I'm almost ready to meet him – though hopefully not for another couple of months!"

"Boy?"

Marina shrugged. "We decided we didn't want to know in advance – we want it to be a surprise."

Marinette hummed, stifling a giggle. "I have to admit, a part of me is a little jealous."

Marina started. "Really? I mean, we're the same age, right?" Marinette nodded. "And you want a baby now?"

Marinette shrugged. "In part," she admitted, feeling heat starting to rise in her cheeks. "If it happened, I know Adrien would be absolutely ecstatic – both our families would be. But with everything else we have going on…"

"You mean the fashion house?"

Marinette grimaced. "Among other things…" She let out a breath and shook her head. "But that's not important. Is there anything you need for the baby? The maternity clothes all fit well?" She hummed, giving Marina an evaluating look. "I'm glad to see that this dress at least looks good!"

Marina grinned nervously. "Oh, we're okay," she assured her. "I haven't had any complaints with the clothing, though we haven't been able to do anything with those baby clothes yet… for obvious reasons."

Marinette giggled. "Well, just let me know how they turn out and when you need something a size or two larger," she instructed her. "And if you need a playpen or cradle or anything like that. We try to take care of our friends and employees!"

Hesitantly, Marina nodded. "Of course," she agreed. "But, um, you don't need to keep sending us all that clothing – I don't know if our baby will need all the clothes you've sent. And there's no way I'll be able to wear all the dresses and skirts you sent for me – not in two months."

"All the same…" Marinette replied. "We're happy to help."

"To be honest…" Marina flushed, looking away in embarrassment. "I've… actually given some of the clothing to a friend from school who's also expecting."

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" Marina nodded guiltily. Marinette smiled. "Then I'm glad someone is enjoying it!"

Marina started. "Um… thanks!" She frowned, her brows furrowed. "Were you really selling maternity clothing before this? Or so much of it? I've noticed the maternity selection in Francisco's catalogues is a lot smaller – and most of the maternity wear photos he uses when he visits retailers are actually of me."

Marinette gave her a quick look up and down. "You know, if you're interested, we could really use a model for the maternity wear – none of our regular models are currently expecting. Or at least they haven't told us, if they are."

She cocked her head. "Me? A model?"

"You."

Marina shrugged. "I mean, I guess I could…"

"We'll see about finding a local photographer and setting up a shoot – maybe even here on the beach!" Marinette smiled. "We did have a few maternity offerings before, but nothing like what we do now. Gabriel wasn't particularly interested in designing maternity clothes." She chuckled. "Of course, he was missing out on a huge market – now more than ever," she pointed out. "I've realized lately that Paris is expecting, and in a big way. A few of my friends have gotten pregnant since the Tarasque's appearance, my Mama is going to have another child around the end of the year, even one of my old teachers got pregnant in Angola!"

Marina's eyes widened. "Wait, really?"

Marinette nodded seriously before her mouth cracked into a smile. "So – at least for a couple months – consider yourself and your friend to be my 'beta testers' for all the new maternity clothing Agreste will be selling over the next few months and years!"