AU! In which Nathalie Sancoeur is Marinette's mom.
I feel like I have seen this idea somewhere before but I don't know where but I doubt this is my original idea.
Sabine took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. Tom loved her, he would understand, wouldn't he? She remembers all the talks they have had about the future. The conversations always involved at least three kids and now she wasn't able to conceive one. Gravity felt stronger and Sabine allowed herself to collapse. She leaned up against the bed as she sobbed into her arms.
Tom's knocking broke the sounds of her crying, "Sabine, are you okay? You haven't come out of the room since you have gotten that phone call."
"Nothing is okay!" Sabine shouts between uneven breaths. She had failed as a wife, maybe the side of the family that told her to stay in Shanghai was right, she never should've come to France.
Tom opens the door and when the light hits his wife he almost cries at the sight before him. She looks helpless there, curled up against the bed, looking more like a scared child rather than the strong woman he had known her to be.
Tom walks over to her and she just continues to cry. He wants to know why but doesn't know if he should push the issue right now. He picks her up bridal style and sits on the edge of the bed and lets his wife cry into his chest. He strokes her hair knowing it might be the best thing he can do right now.
"It- I-" Sabine gasps, trying to explain herself.
"Shh," Tom only says, "rest now. We can talk later."
Sabine cries into his chest until she falls asleep. He lays down on the bed allowing most of her body to stay on top of him. His mind is still flooded with questions but he doesn't know if he wants to go through that all again.
When Sabine wakes up, she finds her husband asleep underneath her. She takes a slow breath, she still needs to find a way to tell him. She calls up her best friend, Nathalie Sancoeur, she was always level-headed, she would know what to do, despite Nathalie still being a teenager, she somehow always knew what to do.
"This is Nathalie," her voice comes tiredly over the phone before she lets out a yawn.
Sabine glances at the time, it's just past midnight, whoops.
"Nath, it's Sabine, I need some advice."
"Right now?" Nathalie yawns again, "I have to get up early, I have another interview tomorrow."
"Real quick, please," Sabine begs.
"Go on," Nathalie agrees, she is awake anyway.
"I got the phone call today, I'm infertile, I'll never be able to have a child."
"But you and Tom want children," Nathalie hums.
"I don't know how to tell him. He is going to be so disappointed. We always dreamed of having a large family together and now I can't even do that."
"Tom was there for you when you barely spoke French," Nathalie recalls when Sabine had just moved, she knew French but was nowhere near as knowledgeable as she was now, "he isn't going to divorce you just because of a thing like that. There are other options to consider too. You could get a sergeant or consider adoption."
"You're right," Sabine says and takes a deep breath, "I can do this, I was just over reacting a little bit. That's why I called you, you are always good at this sort of thing."
"I have another possible solution too," Nathalie says and this time it's her turn to take a deep breath, "you two could have my child when it is born."
"You're pregnant?" Sabine asks, she had never expected this from her friend.
Nathalie nods before remembering that her friend can't see this action through the phone. She doesn't want to confirm it. Before it had all felt like a fever dream to her, saying it aloud makes it real.
"Yes," Nathalie finally mutters.
"You would seriously be willing to give us your child?" Sabine asks hopefully.
"I'm far too young," Nathalie tells her, "I'm just finishing school, I still have a whole life ahead of me, I just don't want a child yet."
"Let me talk to Tom," Sabine says, "but thank you, Nathalie, you have already been a huge help."
Nathalie rubs her stomach which is slowly beginning to show. Just more than four months along in her pregnancy. She didn't know why she had chosen to keep the child, she just knew that she couldn't kill it without giving them a chance to live. A life with Sabine and Tom would be better than one she could ever provide. She hopes Sabine will pull through, for the child if nothing else.
"Tom," Sabine had waited until morning, she didn't want to wake him in the middle of the night like she had Nathalie, especially when she had worried him so much yesterday.
"Yes, Sabine?" he replies, he had given up trying to get the truth out of her, she would tell him when she felt comfortable.
"I need to tell you something," Sabine says, her voice is hardly a whisper.
Tom comes closer to her and rubs a hand up and down her back gently.
"Is everything alright? You seemed worried."
"The phone call I got yesterday. I'm infertile," Sabine admits and tears are brought to her eyes again.
"It's okay," Tom tells her, "there are other options and we'll figure it out together. You aren't alone in this."
"Actually," Sabine starts now that she has calmed down a bit, "there was one option someone already discussed with me."
"Which would be?" Tom prompts.
"Nathalie is pregnant. She says she is too young to raise a child and would feel more comfortable if someone she knew was raising her baby."
"When is she due?"
"I didn't ask, I just wanted to see how you felt about the idea first, I wanted to see if you would even still be around right now to hear this."
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You always talked about having a big family, I was worried you might leave if you knew I couldn't provide that."
"I love you, Sabine," Tom tells her, "like I said before, we are in this together."
Tom leans down and kisses the woman who he loves regardless of her fertility status.
After a few discussions with Nathalie as well as her doctors, it's decided that the surrogacy will now go through. When the baby is born they will discuss more about how often Nathalie will visit to ease anxiety on the baby's part. For now, they focus on the good. Sabine and Tom get to start the family they always wanted. Nathalie won't have to raise a child by herself. The child won't be far from her, although they don't plan to tell them about Nathalie until much later in it's life.
The months pass by quickly and soon Nathalie is given her baby girl. Nathalie hands the daughter to Sabine. Tom holds onto his wife's shoulder as she sobs. Sabine can't believe she is holding her daughter, even if she didn't give birth to the precious girl.
"What would you like to name her?" Nathalie asks.
"Oh, it's not fair for us to name her," Sabine insists, "you did all the work."
Tom rubs Sabine's back, "come on, I know you had a whole list of names picked out."
"Maybe Marinette?" Sabine suggests through her shaking breath.
"I like that," Nathalie says.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Tom lets the name roll on his tongue, his darling daughter, "I love it, I love her," he kisses the top of his wife's head, "I love you."
