The next morning, Adrien found himself awake and looking at the sleeping form beside him, hidden tantalizingly beneath the sheet. A part of him still couldn't believe she was there next to him. He hadn't quite known what he had hoped for in learning his partner's identity beyond the ability to be involved with their baby. He had not expected her to be someone so easy for him to reconcile his existing love with, nor that she would already love him. It was exhilarating to have everything fall into place so easily.

A cutesy electronic chime interrupted his musings, coming from the other room. Adrien didn't recognize the sound, and realized it must have been coming from Marinette's phone. He watched her, though the call didn't seem to disturb her sleep. He relaxed next to her, waiting for the call to end. As soon as it cut off, however, it started right back up again. Curious, Adrien carefully got out of the bed, grabbing some clothes from his dresser to change into as he walked out. Peering at the screen, he saw Alya's name across the top. He had no plans to pick it up; after all, he had no idea what Marinette had shared with their friend about this whole situation.

After the phone rang for a third time, he climbed back into the bed to nudge Marinette awake. She grumbled at him, ignoring his whispered explanation of the phone call, and he couldn't help but feel warm amusement at the confirmation that she was definitely not a morning person. Eventually, however, she seemed to hear the ringtone coming from the other room.

She groaned as she dragged herself out of the bed and barely covered herself with his shirt he'd left on the ground the evening before. He warmed at the sight.

Her voice changed upon answering. "Shoot, I'm sorry Alya!" She rushed back into the room, frantically looking for her own clothes as she tried to get dressed. Adrien had to tear his eyes away from her as he tried to help, finding her shirt and bringing it to her. She paused at something Alya said, looking up at him. "I forgot about my appointment today. Would you like to come with me?"

Excitement filled him at the prospect. "I'd love to."

Marinette smiled softly at him before finishing her conversation and hanging up. "We should probably be sneaky though, so you aren't seen going in with me."

Ah, he needed his incognito outfit. "Just give me a couple minutes." He went to his closet, changing quickly into a slightly too-big black hoodie and loose jeans, throwing on a beanie with a pair of sunglasses. He came back out and walked into the living room to find Marinette. "What do you think?" He changed up his normal walk to throw in some bad posture.

"Holy cow."

He grinned at Marinette's look of surprise. "It's amazing what a small change in wardrobe can do when you're trying to hide in plain sight. I use this a lot when I just want some peace going out." He winked at her. "You ready? You going to use your Kwami to get us out of here?"

She looked uncertain. "I really shouldn't use his power for something personal. But…since this is all in the spirit of bringing less attention to me, which technically could protect my identity as a superhero, I guess it's fine." He watched her transform, admiring the curves of her body underneath her suit once again. After the events of the night before, he found his mind traveling along a different path. He vaguely wondered if she'd be able to keep the suit on while they—

He cut the thought off as his body began to act on his thought process. Nope, not the time for that. He tucked away the question as something to ask Plagg at a later time. He followed her out the door, suddenly grateful for the baggy pants.

They sat in the waiting room not long after, Adrien keeping his thoughts firmly on task, albeit with some difficulty. When Marinette was called back, the nurse met them at the door. "Is this the father?"

"Yes, ma'am." Adrien felt something warm rise within him as he answered the question, peeking over at Marinette who looked back with a shy smile of her own. He took her hand as they followed the nurse back into the room.

Adrien tried to pay attention during the appointment, but when the ultrasound machine was brought in, he became completely focused on the screen. He gripped Marinette's hand in his as the black screen came alive, eventually showing their baby. The woman was talking, but Adrien heard nothing as he watched the shape move, showing the little head and limbs. It started to sink in then as he was watching their baby move; he really was going to be a dad. He felt choked with emotion, especially as the appointment finished and he was handed a picture showing a snapshot of the baby, nose and lips clearly defined.

Despite his excitement, fear bubbled at the back of his mind: fear that he wouldn't be a good dad, fear that he would let Marinette down. Growing up in the environment he did, He worried that the way he'd grown up may have impacted him in ways that would make him a bad parent. He was nothing like his father, at least he hoped not – not intentionally – but what hidden faults would show up when he was a parent? He tried to block it away as they walked outside.

"Thank you, Marinette. For letting me come with you." Adrien didn't want to say goodbye, even though he knew she had to go to work. He felt momentarily buoyed by the fact that he could just drop by again while she was working later, but remembered that they needed to keep a lower profile. "I suppose I should stop coming to visit you at your desk, now."

Marinette looked equally saddened by that prospect. "Yes, that would probably be wise. Not sure we want someone like Chloé voicing more suspicions."

Frustration filled him at the thought. "I'm liking our plan less and less. I don't want you to feel like I'm hiding you."

"I don't, Adrien. I agreed with the plan; I'll be fine. The longer we can delay the circus, the better. I'll find time to come see you when I can."

They parted after she returned him to his place so he could change. He watched her disappear, unhappy that he had to stay away from her in public. He felt like an idiot for suggesting the plan he had; he wasn't sure he was going to survive the next several months.

"Plagg, I don't know how I'm going to do this."

The Kwami zoomed out of his pocket as they entered his apartment. "What are you talking about, It's easy. Just keep doing what you do now; work, run around as Chat Noir, see bakery girl on the down low, and give me cheese. That last one is the most important, of course."

Adrien rolled his eyes, grabbing a piece for his little friend from his fridge. "It's not easy, Plagg. I love her, she's pregnant with my child, and I can't even go see her at her job anymore."

"Seems easy enough. Just don't hide it then."

He sighed in frustration. "It's not just about me. If we did come out in public, my father would be all over her. And she would have to deal with the media. Stress isn't good for her right now, I've learned that much. I don't want her to deal with that."

"Sounds like you need to make do with the cheese you're given. Probably better that you have some time apart anyway, unless you plan to tell her who you really are. Can't be sneaking away from her all the time."

Adrien tapped his fingers rapidly on the counter as he stared out the window. "I don't think I can just yet. I hate hiding it from her, but if I told her now, then we'd just increase the number of people who know about Chat Noir and Ladybug. I'd probably need to hand you over to someone else and…" he trailed off. "I don't want to do that. I can protect her better as Chat Noir for now anyway. I won't be able to keep it from her forever, but hopefully we can find Shadow Moth first." He didn't want to think about what would happen if they didn't find him soon. He'd have to tell her sooner or later; they couldn't exactly both leave the baby on a moment's notice to fight someone who got akumatized at an inopportune time.

But that was a problem for the future. For now, he would need to find ways to spend time with Marinette.


Luckily, in the weeks that followed, it didn't turn out to be as hard as he'd worried. Using Trixx, Marinette was able to come see him in the evenings without standing out. He was thrilled that they were able to build on this new relationship they had begun. They bonded over long talks late into the night, spent time doing normal things like sharing favorite shows and video games, and just really got to know one another on a level that felt so natural.

Because Adrien knew he had never shown a romantic interest in Marinette specifically in the past, he still held back on telling her that he loved her – even though he did, quite desperately. He didn't want her to believe that he was mistaking an idolization of her superhero persona as love. Partly because of this, he wanted to do everything else he could to show her just what she meant to him.

One of the ways he did this was through gifts. Gifts had always meant so much to him growing up, as he hadn't had very many friends when he was homeschooled in his younger years, and thus no real birthday parties. The few gifts he had received had always left a huge impact on him, and he often wanted to share that same feeling with his own friends. He paid attention during his and Marinette's talks, finding small tokens he could give her that she would like, such as chocolates or flowers.

One evening, he found himself patrolling the city as Chat Noir, feeling put out that he'd had to lie to Marinette, telling her she couldn't come over because of a modeling shoot, just so he could patrol. He hated lying to her, but he also knew that he needed to continue to try to pick up on any clues to find Shadow Moth. It was a quiet night, however, and he found himself swinging near Marinette's place, an idea forming. After turning back to grab something at his apartment, he returned, landing on her balcony and knocking on her door. After a minute, Marinette peeked through her blinds, looking surprised to see him.

"Chat Noir? What are you doing here? Come on in."

She ushered him in quickly. She looked beautiful as she always did, wearing a loose shirt and a pair of soft sleep pants he now knew she favored. He took a moment to ground himself as Chat as he glanced around, never having actually seen her apartment before. Thankfully, he had an excuse for why Chat Noir knew where she lived. As Chat, he had had a friendly relationship with Marinette, having taken the time to visit her now and again when she'd lived above her parents' bakery. He hadn't seen her as much since she had moved, however. His excuse would come from Adrien himself.

"Sorry to interrupt your evening, Marinette. I'm actually here on behalf of a mutual friend." He pulled out the gift box he had snagged from his room and held it out to her. "From Adrien."

She looked at him with suspicion and Chat gulped, wondering if he'd somehow messed up. "You're friends with Adrien Agreste?"

He relaxed at the question. "Yep. We go way back."

Way back, like from birth.

She still had her eyes narrowed at him. "He doesn't know your identity, does he?"

He felt slightly amused at that; she was lucky he already knew who she was, because that was such a Ladybug thing to ask. Of course, he had to act like he didn't know her. He pretended to be offended and enjoyed the irony of telling the complete truth for once. "Marinette, I would never reveal my identity to anyone while Shadow Moth is still out there."

She seemed to consider that before finally taking the box from his hand. She looked down at it, her expression softening into a smile. She picked at the bow for a minute before glancing back up at him. He watched as she finally opened the box, revealing a hair clip with a red rose attached. Her mouth parted as she let out a happy noise, and she picked it up and walked to a mirror in the entryway to put it in her hair. The smile she still had on her face as she looked at the clip was entrancing. The urge to walk over and kiss her filled him, demanding to be heard.

"The guy's got good taste," he said, ignoring the urge. She turned back to him, still smiling, her hand unconsciously on her stomach. The placement reminded him that he hadn't seen her as Chat in a while. "Congratulations, by the way."

She looked startled for a second before she raised her eyebrows at him. "You know, it's rude to assume without a lady telling you first." Chat froze, mind going blank as he panicked. Thankfully, she didn't leave him scrambling for long. "I'm kidding, Chat, it's fine. Thank you."

He made it through one minefield only to accidentally step in another when he relaxed and followed it up with, "Well, Adrien's a lucky guy."

Her narrowed eyes informed him he'd made another mistake.

Uh oh.

"Wait, did he tell you?"

Shit. Adrien wasn't supposed to tell anyone he was the father. He panicked again for a second before the easy answer revealed itself. He turned apologetic. "I guess I assumed again, what with the gift delivery and all."

She pursed her lips at him. "Well, you're not wrong, but we're trying to keep it on the down low for now, to keep it out of the media. If you wouldn't mind keeping it to yourself?"

He locked his lips closed with an invisible key. "Not a word." He probably needed to leave before he started digging himself a deeper hole. "Anyway, I better get back to patrol. Good seeing you, Marinette."


He managed to continue finding excuses to visit her as Chat as the weeks passed, playing his visits off on Adrien asking him to keep an eye on her, an excuse that she accepted easily. He'd sometimes find her staring at him suspiciously, but he had been very careful to keep their conversations light and as non-revealing as possible, so he didn't stop visiting her on days he was on patrol and couldn't see her as Adrien.


One evening, Adrien opened up to Marinette about some of his fears as they cuddled together in bed.

"What's going through your head Adrien?" she asked him.

He felt surprised by her question, considering she was facing away from him in his arms, unable to see his face. "How do you know I'm thinking about anything besides you right now?"

She tilted her head up towards him, and he caught her slight smile in the dim light. "You're awfully quiet. And you're holding me tighter than normal. No, it's okay –" he'd loosened his arms, suddenly aware that he had been holding tight, "—it feels nice. But I can tell something's up."

He stayed quiet for another minute. "I'm afraid that I won't know how to be a good dad. I haven't exactly had the best role model."

"Oh, Adrien," Marinette pulled his hand to her mouth, kissing his palm. "You'll be a wonderful dad. I think it could be just as helpful to know what you don't want to do, as what you do."

He nuzzled closer into her neck. "I suppose you're right. I know what it feels like to not be close to my own father, and I don't want to repeat that. I want to spend as much time as I can with them."

"See? That alone will put you well into the realm of great dad." They held each other in the darkness. "I'm afraid, too, about being a mom," she added softly. "I think that's a pretty normal thing to feel. But doing this with you? I feel like anything is possible with you beside me." She turned over in his arms, kissing him sweetly. He couldn't help but agree with her, feeling so grateful to have her there with him. She pulled away suddenly with a soft gasp.

"What is it? Are you okay?" He backed father away, worried he'd hurt her somehow.

"I think I feel…" She had her hand on her stomach, her face suddenly scrunched in concentration. "I think I feel the baby. Here, can you feel that?" She pulled his hand to her stomach and he stilled, trying to sense any movement within. Nothing happened, although her face lit up.

"Shoot, I don't feel anything," he said, "but that's normal, right? That you feel it first? What does it feel like?"

"It's sort of like flutters. I just realized I've felt this before, but I thought it was just nerves. But now…" She turned her face up to his, a happy expression on her face which he found contagious. He pulled her face to his in a kiss before leaning down to softly kiss her stomach.

"Hey, little one. Keep on kicking in there, okay?" He knew he was being silly; the baby couldn't hear anything yet, but his happiness blew that away. Plus, the look on Marinette's face was worth it as she smiled down at him, eyes teary before she pulled him up to her in another kiss, though this one had a much higher intensity than the previous one.

They didn't fall asleep until quite late that night.


Adrien couldn't keep his hands off Marinette after that evening. Part of that was due to the growing rivalry he was apparently having with Alya as to who was going to get to feel the baby kick first. Though mostly it was just because he loved touching Marinette in any way he could.


"—swear, I don't understand why we haven't caught him yet. Did you see the one we fought today?" Chat was complaining as he lounged on a barstool with his feet up on the counter at Marinette's, eating the freshly-baked strawberry macarons that she had on a plate near him.

Marinette's voice was amused. "It looked like the little old ladies were the bigger heroes, as upset as they were about their community garden getting turned into plant minions."

"Yep, they sure got a little violet when they were mad, really rose to the occasion." His head tipped back, a grin on his face as he caught her eye upside down.

She threw a piece of popcorn at him. "I hate to admit it, but I did laugh at your line when you arrived."

His grin widened as he twisted around in the chair. "Everybody, romaine calm?"

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "You're just lucky that woman was recording nearby. From what I've heard, most of your puns are just terrible."

"Lies. I always get the pun-chline right."

She groaned, and he leaned back in satisfaction, tossing another macaron up and catching it in his mouth. "Going back to what you were saying," she said, "Shadow Moth is a supervillain, so it makes sense that he's been able to avoid detection, despite his questionable choices of powers to give out."

"Psh, he's no supervillain. Just a regular old villain."

Marinette cocked her head at him. "What's the difference, then?"

He jumped up to his feet, standing straight before dramatically flinging his arms out. "Presentation."

She gawked at him for a second before breaking down in laughter. "Was that a Megamind joke?"

He hopped back up in his chair. "What can I say, sometimes you gotta borrow from the greats." He grinned, happy to have made her laugh. It was nice to let loose after keeping a lid on his pun-derful jokes as Adrien to keep Marinette from getting too suspicious. He continued on with his earlier thought, "Seriously though, the guy needs to come up with better names. I mean really, Guitar Villain? And that orange guy not long ago? Goo Goon or something? Just terrible."

Marinette laughed again, though she cut off with a gasp, her hand going to her stomach. He jumped up immediately, panic as his first reaction. That went away when she smiled and looked up to meet his eyes. "Chat, come here and feel this." He raced over to her, suddenly excited. She took his hand and placed it on her stomach. He tried to keep his claws from hurting her – he wasn't used to touching her as Chat Noir, which was quite surprising considering how much he had to fight the desire to do so every time he visited. They stood there, quietly waiting, until he felt something nudge against his hand.

He couldn't hold in his gasp. "I felt that!" He stood in awe, sensing a few more gentle kicks against his hand before the baby stilled again. "Wow." He felt speechless as he met Marinette's eyes, and had to repeat the words in his head: I'm Chat, I'm Chat, I'm Chat, don't kiss her, you idiot. Finally, he let his hand drop. A thought occurred to him, one that eased him from his shock into smug satisfaction. "That means I win then, I suppose." As Chat Noir, he'd been privy to multiple references to the competition between Alya and Adrien. Oh, he hoped he was with Marinette when she told Alya about this.

Marinette bent over with laughter. "They are going to be so mad at you."

Sadly, he wasn't around the next time Marinette saw Alya, and had to settle for the secondhand story as Adrien.

"You should have seen her face, Adrien. She was so upset that she demanded I find Chat so she could smack him for getting in the way of her victory." He laughed at that, and she continued, "You're taking this well, though, I'm happy you don't want to beat him up too."

He shrugged, pulling her closer to him in the bed. "I'll feel the kicks eventually, I'm not put out. I get to have closer access than either of them, after all, so I can't be too upset." He hid his grin as he pressed his face into her hair. His hand drifted down to her stomach, caressing the skin there as normal, when he did indeed feel a kick. He stilled his movements. "Was that…?"

Marinette giggled, holding her hand over his as the movements started up again. "Those are kicks for sure."

He felt just as awed as the first time, though immensely grateful to be Adrien again. When the kicks settled this time, he pushed her down into the bed, kissing her fiercely, his mouth turning her giggles into moans as he tried to show her how happy she made him.


Shadow Moth continued to send out akumas during that very happy month, adding a dash of stress to what was quickly becoming the best time of Adrien's life. The akumatized villains themselves didn't stress him out – he worked well with Scarabella, and they often took them down fairly easily, just as he and Ladybug had. However, he was beginning to suspect that Marinette was sneaking around as Silver Spectre during some of the attacks, likely checking to see if they needed help. This was not something he could exactly confront Marinette about either – his suspicions came from observations as Chat Noir, and Chat wasn't supposed to know that Marinette was Silver Spectre. She also stayed hidden well enough that he could never find her after a fight.

Finally, Shadow Moth released an akuma and an amok from the Peacock miraculous he held, creating a sentimonster to fight alongside the akumatized villain. He and Scarabella were having a bit of difficulty splitting their attention, when he suddenly saw a copy of himself across the outdoor courtyard near the museum where they were fighting. The copy led the sentimonster away from the main fight, and Chat's stress levels jumped up, realizing Silver Spectre had entered the fight. To his relief, with Scarabella able to join forces with him on the main villain, they were able to quickly take him down. Chat raced away, letting Scarabella finish there while he went searching for the sentimonster, nervous that Marinette had resorted to trying to take him on herself. Relief filled him when he found the creature, a mummy, lumbering after the copy of him, shooting its long rolls of wrapping at the image. Chat was able to sneak up on it and break the bracelet on its wrist that held the amok. The creature disappeared, leaving the feather to float away. Scarabella wasn't far behind; she snagged the feather with her yo-yo, purifying it.

Chat ignored Scarabella for the moment, running through the courtyard, until he spotted Silver Spectre where she was hidden across the street. He ran to her, hearing Scarabella following behind. "You shouldn't be here so close, Silver."

Irritatingly, she looked unconcerned. "I'm fine, Chat. I wasn't very close. I gave myself space to get away if things turned south."

"That's not the point." Didn't she understand that just her presence nearby made it difficult for him? No, of course she didn't; she didn't know who he was or that he knew her as anyone but Ladybug. He'd never felt quite so frustrated at his inability to explain.

"I won't put myself directly in a fight. I've told you that. But if I can help from a safe spot, I'm not going to sit back and do nothing."

Chat couldn't argue with her. Not without revealing more than he wanted to. He let out a breath. "I still don't like it." He didn't even think he could get away with "telling" Adrien about this; not as long as Chat didn't know the connection between Marinette and Ladybug. His head was starting to pound, and they all soon separated.


The next thing he knew, Adrien was in the waiting room with Marinette, anxiously awaiting her next appointment to start. "Have you thought about names, Marinette?" She was 21 weeks along now, and they hoped to find out the gender during the appointment.

She gripped his arm, leaning against his shoulder. "Actually, yes, I have. What do you think about Louis for a boy? Or maybe Hugo?"

He tested the names out in his head.

Louis Dupain-Cheng…Louis Agreste…

He didn't know what she was leaning to as far as last names, but he found he quite liked that. Hugo, on the other hand, needed a bit of work in his opinion. "I do like Louis. What about if it's a girl?"

"I was actually thinking Emma, for a girl."

Emma Agreste. It was very close to his mother's name, Emilie. He loved that and told her so, bringing a smile to her face.

The news they'd been waiting for came not too long after that, as they watched the baby move on the ultrasound screen once again. "Congratulations, looks like you'll be having a girl." Adrien shared a moment of intense joy with Marinette, feeling like he'd never been happier than he was in that moment.

Adrien left the appointment with Marinette feeling like he was floating on a cloud, unaware of the storm that lay ahead.


A/N: You just have to have the storm so you can appreciate the good weather! I hope you guys are still enjoying this, I appreciate you all and the lovely comments! BY THE WAY I also just posted a fun spin off from this chapter exploring what would happen if Chat had a moment of insanity and actually kissed Marinette after feeling the baby's kicks. Go check it out on my profile - Identity Slip - Accidental Kiss.