A/N: This chapter has the scene that inspired this whole story for me. I hope you enjoy!
The next month passed by quickly. She continued to get nowhere on her mission to find Shadow Moth, though Chat Noir seemed to be catching on to some of her desperation. She'd been able to brush off his concern so far.
Work remained fairly uneventful as she stayed busy preparing for a fashion show the interns and other lower-ranked employees were in charge of. The main change of note was that now Adrien walked by to visit her more often. Though she had managed not to throw any more stacks of paper at him, she still had to work to keep herself from running away whenever she saw him walking nearby. Their conversations always remained lighthearted, never straying far from what was popular on TV or new video games they both were enjoying. What really sent Marinette's heart into overdrive, however, were the few trinkets he had left her on a couple of his visits. Nothing so big to be considered a true gift, but small, thoughtful things. The models received a lot of sample beauty products, he'd said at the time he'd left her a small packet of bath salts.
On this particular day, he handed her a small jar of something called belly butter. "I saw this on the sample shelf and thought you might like it." He shoved his hands into his pockets after giving her the jar, looking nonchalant. Marinette felt tears sting at the corners of her eyes.
"Oh, Adrien, thank you." She swallowed thickly, smiling up at him. He smiled back, but then a loud voice came from across the floor.
"Adri-kins, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." Chloé Bourgeois' heels clicked across the floor as she sauntered into the office. "We have lunch, or did you forget?" Her gaze dipped down briefly to Marinette, then away without any change in expression. "Well, are we going?" Marinette tried to hold back her irritation at being dismissed so bluntly, choosing instead to be happy that she fell below notice. Then she saw Chloé's eyes catch on something on her desk. Her eyes then flashed to Marinette's midsection. Marinette glanced over, seeing where she'd placed the belly butter on her desk. Then she looked down, noticing her shirt had not done an adequate job of hiding her stomach, which after 16 weeks, was not as easy a job any longer. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are you pregnant?" The chatter in the office quieted, and Marinette saw some of her co-workers looking over at the scene curiously. Marinette felt herself go red at the sudden attention.
"Chloé," Adrien hissed quietly.
"What," Chloé demanded, not bothering to lower her voice, "is it a secret or something? Who's the father?"
Marinette stood up abruptly. She might be embarrassed, but she refused to let Chloé try and take a notch out of her. "That is none of your business, Chloé."
Chloé laughed disdainfully. "Sounds embarrassing for you, then."
"Chloé, that's enough. Let's go." Adrien said.
Chloé just gave him a scornful look. "Why do you even care, are you the father?"
Marinette's heart skipped a beat, but Adrien just stepped between her and Chloé. "She's my friend, Chloé, and I don't like it when people bully my friends. I thought you got over that in lycée." Chloé turned red and spluttered incoherently for a second. Adrien glanced back at Marinette, his expression apologetic. "I'm so sorry Marinette." He then led Chloé out by her arm, disappearing through the doorway.
The office chatter picked back up, though Marinette saw people shooting glances her way. Great. Of course Chloé would out her. Not that she would have lasted much longer anyway, as she was having trouble finding clothes that hid her quite as well.
That thought process brought other things to mind as well, such as the fact that her growing size was starting to have an effect on her hero work as well. Though she remained as protected as ever, she was struggling more and more with the physicality required as Ladybug. Her heart panged at the thought that she would need to give up her earrings soon. Before she did that, however, she needed to tell Chat Noir. She'd managed to keep it a secret so far, but she owed her partner the truth before she needed to dip out. Plus, he might actually understand some of her reasons for not wanting to involve Adrien. It would be nice to have someone on her side.
As she let her thoughts be and returned to her work, she couldn't quite keep the warmth from fluttering through her at the thought that in his defense of her, Adrien hadn't actually denied being the father. She was sure he didn't do it on purpose, but the thought did make her feel lighter inside.
Ladybug swung through the city, aiming for her and her partner's normal meeting spot at the Eiffel Tower. She landed, stumbling forward just a step. It was a strange feeling, transforming into Ladybug as of late. Visually, she looked the same as Ladybug always had. The magic of the transformation took her will into account and hid her pregnancy from view. Her actual weight, however, didn't change. It was an odd thing to feel the heaviness of her midsection and yet look down to see it flat. She could understand Tikki's insistence that she would need to continue to be careful. The thought of handing her earrings over pained her; even though she would continue to be the guardian, she would miss Tikki and being Ladybug.
Chat Noir landed near her, his baton collapsing with a metallic ring. "You called, my lady?"
"Hey Chat." She remained standing instead of taking their usual sitting position on the edge. Chat leaned against the metal framing, eyeing her hands, which she realized she had been wringing nervously. She let them fall to her sides.
When she didn't say anything else, Chat's expression shifted. "Is…everything okay?" He asked cautiously.
"Not exactly, mon minou. I need to tell you something." Chat's ears twitched, and she saw the worry sift into his eyes. She continued on. "You remember Love Bomb, yes?"
He nodded. "Hard to forget, really." He bounced from foot to foot, his eyes no longer meeting hers.
"Tell me about it," Ladybug mumbled, and his eyes snapped back to hers. "My cure is supposed to fix everything after, right? Unfortunately, it didn't completely work this time." She took a deep breath, unable to meet his gaze. "Well, turns out I'm pregnant, and I'm going to need to hand over my earrings for a few months."
Chat stumbled, catching himself back against the frame of the tower, and then went completely still. Ladybug glanced back up to see his eyes widen and his mouth go slack. She stayed quiet, waiting for him to process her words so she could move on to planning, but Chat didn't seem to be snapping out of his stunned reaction very quickly. Finally, his mouth clamped back shut, and he licked his lips. "You…you're pregnant?" His voice came out hoarsely, and his eyes lowered to her stomach, which she knew looked normal. Ladybug brought a hand up to it on instinct, feeling the strange flatness that contrasted with what she knew was there, underneath the magic. She felt her cheeks pinken at his reaction, though she hoped her mask hid that. She'd expected him to be most concerned about the second half of her revelation, the part where she would need to step down. Apparently, however, he seemed to be stuck on processing the first half. Perhaps she had been mistaken in thinking that his feelings for her had long since dimmed. The thought made her shoulders droop, and she fought to keep from turning away to hide. She was Ladybug, damn it; she could handle this.
She continued to watch as Chat's emotions filtered through his facial expressions, though his mask did a good job hiding them. She though she saw a mixture of awe and panic cross his face, before he finally straightened himself back up, running a hand through his hair and down his face, his expression clearing. "I'm so sorry, Ladybug." He was right in front of her suddenly, pulling her against him in a tight hug.
Ladybug had thought she had gotten long past her crying stage, but Chat's comfort brought the tears back, her eyes filling as she laid her head against his chest.
When she had gotten control of herself again, she pulled back. Chat didn't seem to want to let her go, but reluctantly stepped back, keeping one of her hands in his. His eyes were clear when he asked his next question. "What are you going to do? You said you need to step down as Ladybug? Is it dangerous for you and the baby to transform? Wait, should we be up here this high right now?" His voice had gradually increased in pitch until his hand suddenly tightened and pulled on hers; he looked alarmed, staring past her to the edge.
Ladybug held her ground, not moving. "I'm good, Chat, don't worry. I'm safe in the suit. It's just that things are getting more awkward as I get bigger. I know I don't look it right now because of Tikki's magic, but I'm actually about out to here right now." She stretched her hand in front of her, trying to approximate the size of her belly. Chat's eyes seemed transfixed on her hand, and she dropped it back to her side. He blinked a couple of times before shaking his head slightly and looking back up at her. She continued. "I won't be able to fight very well for long. I have someone in mind though. You remember Scarabella, right?" Chat nodded his head, but he still seemed to be far away, his eyes unfocused. "She'll step in. I'm hoping to come back as soon as I can." She squeezed his hand before pulling hers away.
Chat's breathing seemed to quicken slightly. "What about – what about the father? Have you told him yet?"
"No, I haven't. Actually – " She took another deep breath before continuing. "I'm thinking about not telling him. He didn't have a choice in this either."
"Wait, what? No, you can't –"
Ladybug didn't understand the panic that flashed across his face as he struggled to find words, but she cut in with indignation, "I can raise a baby on my own, Chat. I have other support. There are plenty of single mothers out there making it just fine. Plus, I was transformed at the time, so that's all he would remember. I would have to reveal myself, and that would put him in danger if Shadow Moth found out."
"But—but even if he knew who you were, he's only one person in the entire city. Couldn't you tell him about the need to be careful?"
Ladybug shook her head. "It's not just that. I can't reveal much, but he's pretty well-known. He's watched pretty heavily by the media, not to mention his…family is very strict. It would be a huge burden. He doesn't deserve that."
"He should get the chance to decide that for himself, Ladybug." His voice was clipped, frustration tinting the edges of his words.
"Why do you even care that much, Chat? I'm going to work it out," Ladybug bit out, using her own irritation to hide her guilt, because she knew he was right. But she had thought Chat might understand.
"I care about you, my lady. Raising a baby on your own takes a lot of work. How will you handle being Ladybug again after the baby is born if no one knows who you are? I don't want to lose you, Ladybug. You're my partner."
Ladybug squeezed her eyes together and turned away. His questions had merit, though he didn't know about Alya. Still, she couldn't rely on Alya for emergency childcare all the time. "This is why I wanted to find Shadow Moth so badly. If he were gone, this would all be so much easier."
"We can step up our game. More patrols. We can tell the citizen of Paris to help track the akumas; maybe we can figure out where they come from. We can try harder."
"Maybe."
They were both quiet for a time. Ladybug tried to rein in her conflicting thoughts.
"Not that it matters what I think," Chat started out, his voice soft, "but if I were in his shoes, I would want to know."
Ladybug sighed, letting her arms fall. "I'll think about it, Chat. There are other reasons, too. Ones I can't share." Marinette, the intern. Marinette, not exactly the best choice for Adrien. Marinette, too distracted by her feelings for Adrien to save him, landing them in this mess. She didn't voice any of these, however, and reached for her yo-yo. "Thank you, for the support. I'm not sure when I'll need to step down completely, but it'll be soon. I might not see you for a while, mon chaton."
Chat's eyes widened again, and he took a step forward towards her, his arm reaching out. "Wait, no, I don't know who you are!"
Ladybug looked at him, brows crinkling in confusion. "Of course you don't; secret identities, remember?"
Chat fumbled his words, looking panicked again for some reason she couldn't understand. "I mean – I – what if – hold on," Chat stopped, taking a breath before looking at her, gaze intense. "If you decide not to tell him – the father, that is – let me help. With the baby. Please."
Ladybug's eyes softened. "Thank you for the offer, Chat. That means a lot to me. It would probably not work until we defeat Shadow Moth. We can't know each other's identities."
Chat practically deflated before her, shoulders sagging in defeat. "I know. I just want to help." Ladybug's heart twinged at the unexpected sadness in his words. She walked to him one more time, pulling him into a hug. His arms tightened around her. "Please be careful, Ladybug. Promise me, no more risks." His voice was pleading as he pulled away, expression stern.
"I'll be careful." She promised.
Chat's eyes once again lowered to her stomach. "The circumstances are terrible, but congratulations anyway, Bug. You'll be a great mom." Ladybug beamed up at him. A wistful look crossed his face as he met her eyes again. "Do you know the gender yet?"
"Not yet. Another month, I hope."
She made to pull away, but he held her tight. "Don't disappear on me, my lady, you hear me?"
"I won't" She promised, giving him one more smile before she finally pulled away, taking out her yo-yo and launching herself back into the air. She noticed that he hadn't taken off with her. When she was some distance away, she looked back to see him still standing on the landing. She turned forward, feeling a twinge of regret. Though she had never let any feelings for him stray beyond friendship due to their responsibilities, it was clear to her now that it would have been easy to make the transition. And there was a part of her that wished that she had been with Chat that day. Perhaps things would have been easier if Chat had been the father, instead of Adrien.
A/N: What do you think? I've also been working on a companion piece to this story from Adrien's POV, though I haven't yet decided whether to just pick and choose scenes or do the whole thing and risk re-treading too much of the same ground covered in this one. Leave a review if you liked this, and if you'd like to see some from his POV!