When they got close to the hospital, Marinette detransformed, wincing as the pain from the cuts intensified. Chat went right through the doors into the emergency room, catching the attention of most of the people inside.
After a quick explanation from Chat, the nurses ushered them into a room, where she was immediately given attention, stitches placed in the deeper cut on her arm and bandages on the shallower ones on her neck. She tried not to panic as worst-case scenarios started running through her mind. What if the drugs hurt Emma? What if she somehow miscarried? Her breathing started going ragged.
Her blood was drawn, causing her to nearly pass out. Chat was at her side, soothing her as the nurse worked. Finally, a machine was brought in to monitor their baby's heartbeat. Chat held her hand tightly in his as they waited anxiously for the doctor to listen for any fetal distress.
"Good news, the heartbeat sounds just fine." Relief filled her, a cooling balm to her nerves. "We'd like to keep you monitored for a few more hours, just until any remaining effects wear off. We'll wait for the blood test results to come back, but we believe you were dosed with propofol, a sedative that is usually not harmful for pregnant women. But we'd like to continue to be cautious, since we don't know the dosage given to you."
The doctor left, and they were alone for the first time. Marinette let out a long breath, letting her hand rest on her stomach, feeling kicks that were a great comfort at the moment: a reminder that little Emma was doing okay. A leather-gloved hand joined hers. Marinette's gaze drew over to where Chat was climbing into the bed next to her. She took the time to look at him, reaching up with her other hand to run it through his hair, giving his ears a rub. They twitched slightly at the contact. She still could barely believe that he really was Adrien underneath. With her panic for her child subsiding, she had enough space to start to consider the rest of the evening's events. And oh, what a mess there was to sort through. She couldn't imagine what he was going through after everything, especially after finding out his own father had been Shadow Moth. She wanted to be there for him however she could. She decided to start out light. "You did a good job hiding your identity from me. I was – am – truly blown away. Though I should have seen it." She lowered her hands, caressing his face softly. He just smiled, closing his eyes and nuzzling into her hand, making her snort out a laugh.
"I'd hoped you wouldn't be upset with me for hiding it. It was difficult, at times." His smile dimmed at that, and her fall from the balcony earlier that day came to mind.
"I'm so sorry, Adrien." She kept her voice to a whisper. She felt the need to reassure him. "I love you, mon minou."
He lifted his head, bringing his own hand to her face. "I didn't want to tell you this before, because you didn't know me – who I was – on both sides of the mask. I wasn't sure if you would understand. But I want you to know that I love you, Marinette, my lady." Her heart swelled at that, hand tightening where it now rested on his forearm. "I thought that I had loved you when you were only Ladybug, but I didn't realize what real love felt like until I also knew you as Marinette." He grew contemplative. "It was sort of like a puzzle; getting to know you over the years as Ladybug, it was like I knew what the picture was, but I only had half the pieces. I thought just knowing was enough, but then this happened –" his hand shifted on the swell of her stomach, "—and I learned you were Marinette. It was like I had the other half of the puzzle the whole time and just didn't know it belonged. And everything suddenly fit; each time we spent a night together, more pieces connected. Until everything clicked together. And I knew then that I was truly in love with you."
Marinette tugged on his bell to bring him close enough to kiss softly. It was a different feeling, having his mask beneath her fingers. She pulled away, then couldn't help herself. "You like puzzles then, Chat?" she teased.
He laughed, cheeks going red beneath his mask. "Actually, I do." They stared warmly at each other, before his face fell slightly. "And then I watched you die. I didn't handle it well. It didn't matter that Scarabella could bring you back; she had to force me away from that pile of rubble. I'll never forget that feeling. I guess I understand you a bit more now, why you'd always chastise me for sacrificing myself in battle."
"That's…different, Chat. I never had to watch you go in such a…non-magical way. I'm sorry you went through that." She wished she could erase the memory from his mind.
He went on. "I couldn't forgive myself for not getting to you fast enough. So, when I heard that fath—that Shadow Moth had taken you—" His eyes darkened at that. "– I barely waited long enough to tell Scarabella where I was going before taking off."
They were quiet for a few moments. "I'm so sorry about your father, Adrien."
He clenched his hand tightly, looking away from her. "I'm just so angry that I didn't know. I should have realized he was a monster long before tonight."
Marinette straightened suddenly. "Wait, your mom; didn't he say something about her being in a coma somewhere? Where is she?"
Chat jerked back. "I need to call Scarabella. I was so focused onworried about you that it slipped my mind." He pulled his baton out, dialing.
A nurse entered the room, so he slipped out for privacy. The nurse fussed over her for a few minutes, checking her IV and blood pressure, before finishing up and leaving again.
Finally, Chat returned. "She turned them over to the police. Apparently, they were close to letting him go free, thanks to his lawyer. But Nooroo told Scarabella where he was keeping my mom. They found her in his house, in a hidden basement level. It was enough to hold him, but they will need me to make a statement. Both as myself and as Chat Noir. You as well, when you're feeling up for it." He sighed. "This would have been so much easier if it had happened in public." Marinette shared the sentiment, realizing they had some work ahead of them.
For now, she focused on a more important question, "And your mother?"
"She's alive, but being kept in some sort of machine my father had her in. Scarabella said she and Tikki would be trying to take a look at her, to see if there could be a connection to the miraculous'."
Marinette took his hand, squeezing. "You could go see her."
"I'm not leaving you here." His response was firm, though Marinette saw the longing peeking through.
"I'll be okay, Adrien," she told him soothingly.
He just shook his head. "You heard what I said down there, right? You're my family now, and the most important thing to me. You and Emma." His façade cracked only slightly then. "I'll go see her when you are both healthy and out of here."
"We'll go together," she agreed.
She pulled him back over to her by his hand, distracted once again by the fact that her longtime partner was Adrien. Everything continued to slowly fall into place. "You know, I agree with what you said earlier, about not being able to truly love someone until you really know them. I thought I loved you before, too. But now, knowing you're both Chat and Adrien, now it all makes sense. And I love you all the more for it."
He looked at her then as though she were the stars in the sky on a clear night.
The doctor walked in on them making eyes at one another and cleared his throat. Chat jumped to the side, giving him space to talk with her. "Bloodwork confirmed our suspicions. Nothing has changed, and we're still keeping you for monitoring, but I wanted to give you the news."
After the doctor left, Chat climbed into the hospital bed and curled up next to Marinette. The events of the day were finally crashing over her, and she quickly fell asleep.
Marinette groggily awoke a couple hours later when Chat nudged her, and she was finally allowed to leave. It must have been well past midnight as they walked outside to a quiet city. As soon as they had gotten out of view of the hospital, Chat picked her up and launched them into the sky.
"I should get you home to sleep," her murmured to her when he stopped on top of a building to look down at her.
"No," Marinette protested, gripping his suit, "—go to the police station. We need to find out where your mom is."
"Marinette, you're exhausted."
She just shook her head stubbornly. "I'll transform, that should help." He sighed but placed her on the ground, where she transformed into Silver Spectre. She did feel a burst of energy return to her, thankfully. He immediately picked her back up again, ignoring her weak protests as he took off, not putting her down until they had reached their destination.
Scarabella met them outside. As soon as Chat let her down, Marinette was pulled into Scarabella's arms instead, her friend holding her tightly in a hug. "Thank God you're okay. I was so worried for you." She gave Marinette a look over before she redirected her attention to them both. "We're going to need to do a press conference. This is all coming out in the morning, so it would be best to get ahead of it."
What followed were several hours of planning and police interviews, culminating in the three of them standing on a stage giving a press conference. Marinette was using her mirage to portray herself as Ladybug once again, and the three of them broke the news that Shadow Moth had been caught and revealed to be Gabriel Agreste. Though cheers and gasps echoed through the room, Marinette could see the tension behind Chat's smiles. She'd been worried about him over the past few hours; she and Alya had taken on the bulk of the planning, and while Adrien had helped when needed, he had seemed to be a bit distant. She didn't blame him; he must have been struggling to accept everything that had been revealed that night.
He had, however, spoken up against the idea of revealing himself as Chat Noir to the public to keep the heat off of him as Gabriel's son. "No. It's not worth the risk to you and Emma, if we're ever needed again." They'd instead agreed to mention Adrien as simply a helpful link to discovering Shadow Moth's identity, if he came up.
After answering a few questions at the end of the press conference, they managed to get out of there, making their way to another hospital in the city where Emilie was now being kept.
Adrien placed a hand on his mother's arm as she lay in the bed, looking as though she were sleeping peacefully. Marinette and Alya remained hidden behind a mirage, but they stood nearby. "I can't believe he had her hidden all this time."
The doctors had been flummoxed by her state; apparently, the box she'd been discovered in wasn't any sort of life-support machine, but a simple glass box. It was something magical that was keeping her alive in her current state, something the doctors hadn't been able to figure out. Tikki had some ideas, but it was going to take time to dig through the grimoire to find if there was a workable solution.
Marinette laid a hand on top of his. "We'll figure something out to bring her back." Reluctantly, he backed away, leading them back outside.
They said goodbye to Scarabella, promising to talk later. Adrien transformed once again, finally dropping the two of them down near Marinette's apartment. "Come stay with me tonight," Marinette said. "Your place will be swarmed with reporters." He agreed, and they slipped inside. They collapsed on her bed, curling up against one another, though only Marinette had transformed back.
"Is it bad that I wish I could just stay as Chat Noir and leave Adrien behind?" His arms were wrapped around her from behind. She squeezed one arm, leaving a kiss on it.
"It's an understandable reaction."
"Even after I told him in that room what you were to me, it changed nothing. He didn't care. Worse, it made him try to hurt you more. I still don't know what he wanted Nathalie to do to you there at the end. I don't know how someone could do that to their own son. Their own grandchild." Then he was shaking behind her. She turned herself around, pulling his head to her chest, holding him while he lost it. Tears slipped past her eyes as well at the thought of this amazing man with such a huge heart, burdened by a father who made such terrible choices.
"Something must have broken within him when he lost your mom. I'm so sorry, mon minou. It wasn't your fault." She continued to stroke his hair with her hand while he cried, her heart breaking for him. He finally stilled after some time, breathing in slowly. She continued on, "You don't know how much you brighten the lives of those around you. As Adrien, and as Chat Noir. You have friends who love you. You still have me, and Emma. And while she'll love Chat Noir, she's going to need Adrien. And I need you, too."
He took a deep breath, releasing his transformation. He pulled his head up to lean against her forehead instead. "Thank you, Marinette. You're amazing too, you know."
She smiled. "You know, when this first happened to us," she pulled his hand along with hers to her stomach, "—I was so afraid that I had accidentally trapped you into something you wouldn't want. But looking back, knowing now that you're Chat Noir, I guess we sort of trapped each other, didn't we?"
He made a humming noise. "I guess we did. I felt terrible that you thought it was all your fault, when I knew that I was the one who led her to you and should have kept running."
"See? We both did it. And now we're where we wanted to be; trapped together."
Adrien's mouth quirked at that. "So, what you're saying is you do feel trapped."
"I—what, no, I'm happy to be trapped, I mean happy to trap you, shoot, no—I meant I didn't want to then, but trapped now is –" She felt herself get flustered as her voice increased in both pitch and volume. "—ack, no not trapped, I mean together, I want you—me," her words continued to fumble out, until she finally screeched, "MARRIED! I WANT TO BE MARRIED TO YOU?" It came out as a question, her breathing hard and her eyes on his, watching as Adrien's expression had grown in amusement before his eyes went wide.
"Are you—are you asking me to marry you, Marinette?" He was staring at her with a muted awe.
She melted, a shy smile forming on her face. "I guess I am."
He kissed her. She could feel the answer in that kiss, though he gave it to her all the same. His ecstatic expression gained a mischievous edge. "I am quite the cat-ch, aren't I?" Marinette groaned as she buried her face into his collarbone, but couldn't stop her grin at hearing his goofiness sliding back into place, a novel thing for her to hear coming from Adrien instead of Chat. He tightened his hold around her. "Yes, Marinette, I want to marry you. Though I would like the chance to get down on one knee to ask you myself as well, m'lady."
"Of course, I look forward to it, mon minou."
They finally fell asleep in each other's arms, happy and looking forward to what lay ahead.
Marinette entered her apartment, stretching as she hung up her bag. At nearly eight months pregnant, she struggled with not feeling like a beached whale most days.
However, there was one person who didn't seem in the least bothered by her size; in fact, these days it seemed to have the opposite effect.
Adrien met her by the door and pulled her into a kiss, his hands all over her. "You look especially beautiful today, Bug." His voice was a low purr as he worked from her ear down to her neck. Marinette's giggle turned into a gasp as he took her skin between his teeth in a nip, sucking lightly. Pleasure flowed through her as her blood seemed to rush to the spot he nursed at the bend of her neck, pulsing even as he left it to go back to her lips.
She gave him a half-hearted swat. "You'll leave a mark."
His lips moved back to her throat. "Mmm, maybe that's the point. I want everyone to know you're mine."
"What, this isn't enough for you?" Her hand fell to her stomach, rounded with his child. His hand joined hers.
"No one knows she's mine yet, though." His voice had a slight whine to it.
"Well, no one would know who gave me a hickey, either, you stupid cat." She was having trouble keeping her thoughts in line with his hands and mouth on her.
"Fair point." A sly grin appeared as he scooped her up into his arms. He brought her into the bedroom, laying her carefully down. "Maybe I just like hearing the way you gasp when I do it, then." His whispered words shot through her straight to her core, and she almost moaned again. His gaze was fixated on her body as he removed her clothes, hands caressing her.
The way his eyes lingered on her stomach sent a thought through her. "You know, I'm starting to think you have a thing for pregnant women."
He brought his face to hers, humming into her ear. "You've got it wrong there. I have a thing for you, pregnant. I love you, Marinette."
And he proceeded to show her just how much.
Emma was born on an early morning to much fanfare from the small group of people who awaited the news. Soon after, Adrien and Marinette announced the birth as well as their engagement to the world. There was quite the media circus after that, as rumors spread about the hidden relationship. Thankfully, due to Adrien's firm defense of Marinette to the media and a little help from newly-returned Ladybug and Chat Noir, things died down, and the couple was able to resume a peaceful life as a family.
Marinette, having no desire to stay at Gabriel's company as long as he still held control – which he somehow still had, even from prison – was was able to return to a new job, one she'd gained thanks to her designs' performance at her fashion show. (promotion thankfully still in place, despite the loss of Gabriel Agreste and subsequent shaky footing of the company). Adrien, having never particularly caredbeen a fan of being for a modeling in the first place, was excited to find something he was passionate about: staying home with their daughter. This he did alongside his continued moonlighting as a super hero (a much easier task now that there were no longer akumatized villains wreaking havoc).
Though Emilie remained in stasis, hope remained that Tikki and the other Kwamis would figure something out.
Outside of the fight to keep Gabriel incarcerated, Adrien and Marinette were blissfully happy, finally able to be together in the open. They were eager to move forward with normalcy.
And life went on.
It always does. Especially when you're the holder of the Kwami with the Power of Creation.
The End
A/N: Shoot me a review and let me know if you enjoyed this story! I'm mulling over some ideas for a sequel, so let me know if there's anything in particular you're hoping to see. I also just posted the first chapter in the companion story to this one that follows Adrien over the same events (with some extra scenes thrown in here and there, including a bit more at the end!). I'm considering throwing on a short epilogue to this one as well at some point, but I want to know what you guys think first! Thank you all for the lovely reviews, follow me to be notified when I post!