To Lyger 0: She's absolutely already got plans for this kid!

To Guest: We'll have to see what happens with Marinette and Bri. And, for that matter, with Aurore.

To Miraculous Reader: I do like the more balanced dynamic Chloe and Sabrina have now, as compared to where they started.

Only a few minutes later, the portal whirred open and Sabrina allowed Chloe and Emilie to drag her through it into Max's apartment – the apartment they had been sharing for six weeks, where they had… Heat rose in her cheeks. She frowned, looking down, past her stomach at her knees. After kneeling in the dirt and grass for so long, her leggings had picked up grass stains for the first time in her life; she could only imagine what her backside must look like. How many times would this happen now, if she was going to have a child to… Her stomach churned, and she swallowed anxiously. Perching on her shoulder, Nooroo fluttered his wings against her neck, and Sabrina shuddered, trying and failing to slow her racing heart. Without slowing down, Chloe marched down the hallway, following the sounds of talking coming from Max's bedroom, with Sabrina and Emilie trailing behind her.

"Sabrina?" Max called, both his voice and his emotions betraying confusion and surprise. "Is that you? You finished already?"

"You could say that," replied Chloe, amusement in her voice.

"What–?" Max's surprise spiked.

Finally, Sabrina turned the corner into the bedroom to find Max sitting at the desk, papers strewn all over in front of him. A couple sheets had fallen off and fluttered over to the doorway; Sabrina bent over and picked them up. Skimming the heading quickly, she glanced up at Max, her brows furrowed. "A licensing deal with the United Heroez?" she asked, surprised.

He nodded. "As part of the American distribution agreement, they want me to design a game similar to Akuma Battle that uses the United Heroez," he explained. "Some of the profits would go to them of course – a smaller percentage for any crossover games. It looks promising, but I have to read through the contract first, before Kagami's lawyers see it. They will make the final call – as long as the contract does not include compromising language. I would have said something sooner, but I wanted it to be a surprise."

Sabrina hummed, straightening the pages and handing them back to him. "That's exciting," she told him, biting the inside of her cheek.

He nodded, grinning enthusiastically. "Absolutely!" he agreed. "If it works out, the possibilities are limitless! Imagine a Battle Royale crossover where a team of United Heroez can compete against the Heroes of the UK! Or the Heroes of Berlin have to fight Gang Green! There are so many different directions this can go in the future! I'll have to figure out the power balance with Majestia but…"

Sabrina nodded, cracking a wan smile as Max continued speaking animatedly about his game. Was it fair of her? Max had so many exciting plans, so many ambitions for the future… what would it do to him if he suddenly had to worry about an unexpected child now? Starting a family together was a subject they had only talked about briefly before the Tarasque appeared, and since then it hadn't even been on her mind, so wrapped up had she been in the euphoria of finding Max alive. But now… this could affect everything! Their whole lives would change! Or they would if she told him… Vaguely she was aware of a sense of concern emanating from Emilie to her left; Sabrina fought to mask her own emotions, only for Emilie's to shift into a subtle mix of annoyance and amusement. Sabrina gulped guiltily, and Emilie's emotions turned to calm assurance. Suddenly, Sabrina found Max staring at her, concern and expectation in his emotions. She blinked, refocusing on his face. "Sorry, what?"

"Ridiculous." Chloe rolled her eyes. "I didn't think that was supposed to start for at least a few more months!"

Max cocked his head, giving Chloe a confused look, sighed, and turned his attention back to Sabrina. "I asked, 'What is going on?' I thought I would see you again after lunch or this evening." His eyes moved back and forth between Chloe, Sabrina, and Emilie, his brows furrowing. "Did the counseling go well?"

Sabrina nodded, grinning too widely. "Of course. Absolutely. Couldn't be better!" Emilie nudged Sabrina as Chloe snorted into her fist. Max blinked, staring at her in concern. Sabrina sighed. "Truthfully, we didn't exactly get to the counseling part," she admitted, looking away. "Something else came up first."

Chloe arched an eyebrow. "Something definitely came 'up' first…"

Emilie pursed her lips, giving her a look. "Chloe. Behave."

Max frowned. "And that is why all three of you are here?"

Emilie sighed. "That is why we are here now. Sabrina has something she needs to talk about with you. Chloe and I came along for moral support."

Max turned his focus on Sabrina, who started to shrink back inside of herself. "What do we need to talk about?" he asked. His emotions shifted to hurt. "Why do you need moral support to talk to me?"

"Um…" Sabrina's gaze drifted around the bedroom before settling on the bed. "The… bed!" He started, cocking his head. "We really should be making the bed in the morning, don't you think?" she asked urgently. Her voice broke. "That way when people come to visit they don't… see…" She coughed.

"Uh… I suppose we can," he agreed hesitantly. "But this is the first time we have had company in this room. And you normally wake up after I do."

"Right…" Sabrina swallowed. "That's… a good point…" Her voice trailed off, and she looked around the room for inspiration. "I, um, I think it would be nice if I had space for some clothes here…"

He raised an eyebrow. "I have offered in the past; you were concerned that your parents would realize you were spending nights here instead of your own room if that were the case."

"They're going to find out sooner than later," Chloe muttered, hiding a laugh behind her hand. Emilie nudged her.

"Excuse me?" Max stared at Chloe, his confusion deepening.

Sabrina gulped, steeling herself. "I–uh…" She faltered, looking around helplessly. She couldn't do it. She couldn't put all of this extra pressure on Max – not now, not when he was so close to taking his game to an even higher level, not when he had so many plans that this would disrupt. "It's nothing…" she mumbled, looking away. "Chloe's just teasing." Max blinked. Sabrina let out a breath. "We probably should go back and do our counseling," she told Emilie. "You need time to work on your new idea, don't you?"

"I… do…" he agreed hesitantly. "But you are more important than that."

"That's–that's–"

"Oh, come on!" Chloe burst out, groaning in exasperation and rubbing her forehead. "You can stand up to criminals, you can stand up to super-villains, you can even stand up to Marinette, but you can't tell your boyfriend that you're pregnant!?"

Sabrina froze, staring back and forth between Chloe and Max in horror. Chloe's emotions almost immediately turned to shame and guilt. Max sat stock-still, looking into the distance, his emotions filling with shock and confusion. Emilie squeezed Sabrina's shoulder, even as she swiped her other hand out, grabbing for Chloe's arm and giving her a look.

"I'm sorry–I–I didn't–" Chloe stammered, falling silent and shrinking back behind Emilie.

Max's confusion finally broke, shifting into worry and fear, and hints of other emotions intermingled with those two. Sabrina swallowed hard, looking down at the floor. He was worried – he was upset! And why shouldn't he be worried? Why shouldn't he be afraid of what this would mean? He hadn't planned on this – he had a life he was planning, a job that this would interfere with! He didn't need this added stress on top of all of that, and especially not when he was also so busy with the Heroes of Paris. For that matter, she didn't need that added stress, either! This wasn't a good time for them to be having kids; what would happen to university, what would happen to her counseling, what would happen to–to everything? It was already going to ruin her life; did it have to ruin his, too? She could feel Nooroo's paws on her forehead, vaguely see him fluttering in front of her face. But she couldn't focus on him. She couldn't take in a full breath; her head was starting to spin. She–

"Sabrina!" Emilie's shout abruptly snapped her out of her spiral, and she jumped out of her skin, looking up at Emilie in confusion and blinking rapidly. Emilie smiled sympathetically as Nooroo settled onto her shoulder, staring at Sabrina with large, calming eyes. "Sometimes you need to actually use your words," Emilie told her delicately. Sabrina took in a deep breath and looked over at Max, who wore an expression of worry and fear on his face, his emotions now roiling with bewilderment. Emilie nudged her. "Just because you know someone is worried doesn't mean you know why."

Max almost jumped, looking up at Emilie and then back at Sabrina. "What?" He facepalmed. "I apologize… I forgot."

"No; I should have remembered that." Sabrina gulped down another deep breath of air. "I–I can feel that you are worried," she finally explained, her voice sounding weak in her ears. She sniffled. "I–I'm afraid that you don't want it. That you don't want the responsibility, or the baby, or–or–"

Max started, lunging forward and grabbing Sabrina's hands. "Never, not for a moment, would I think that," he assured her. "Or even consider it. Of course I want our child. I was worried, but not about that." He let out a breath. "I was worried that you would not want it – that you were upset with me because–because this happened."

"No!" Sabrina almost shouted. He jumped, his eyes shooting wide open. "No," she continued softer, blushing. She placed a hand on her stomach. "I–I want him – o–or her. I've… felt his emotions. And it's–it's amazing! I thought it was amazing when I felt Vida's emotions, but this… this is so much more beautiful."

Emilie squeezed Sabrina's shoulder. "It will only get better as your baby grows," she assured her, sighing fondly. "It's an incredible bond, one that most mothers never experience."

Max nodded, gently pulling Sabrina into his arms. "You are not upset about it?" he asked. "No regrets?"

She frowned. "I mean… we're still really young… And what about school? I'm supposed to start Descartes fulltime in the fall. And you're going to university, too! And you have everything with Super Akuma Battle! And the Heroes of Paris! And how are we going to explain all of this to my parents?" Her breathing hitched, her eyes shooting wide open.

Max grimaced. "I… was concerned about that, also, to be honest," he admitted.

Chloe scoffed, folding her arms. "If your dad wants to make a fuss, he can take it up with me."

"We'll both be there when you tell them," Emilie promised. "They may be surprised and concerned, but they will come around." She raised an eyebrow. "After all, I know they like Max…"

He hummed doubtfully. "But will they still…?"

Sabrina hugged him tightly, hanging on for dear life. He rubbed her back soothingly. Her stomach clenched. "What if they throw me out?"

Chloe arched an eyebrow. "Then you stay here permanently. What's the problem?"

"What about when Claudie gets back next month?"

"You both move into the hotel in the suite below mine. I still fail to see the problem here…"

"What about–"

"Sabrina, sweetheart," Emilie interrupted her gently. "You're worrying about far too much, far too early. You are not going to be left all alone to deal with this on your own."

Chloe harrumphed, folding her arms. "Do you honestly think I'm going to ditch out on my best friend at a time like this?" Her sneer belied the twinge of anxiety that Sabrina could sense below the surface. Sabrina shook her head, and Chloe hugged her and Max tightly. "Your kid is going to be so spoiled…"

Emilie joined the group hug. "Remember, my schedule is still pretty open. So if you ever need someone to watch your baby while you are in class or working or anything like that, you can always drop them off with me – I'm only a portal away!"

Sabrina's stomach still churned; she was still anxious looking forward to the uncertain future. But Max was beside her. Chloe was on her side. She had her friends. And she had Emilie. And maybe even her parents. So maybe, with everyone's support, she would be okay.

Maybe.