To Lyger 0: She does know what she's talking about!
Multiplice could feel herself starting to breathe more heavily, even as she eased back into the physical exertion of patrolling after the last several weeks of relative inactivity. The cool air on her cheeks, the wind blowing through her hair as she ran, the refreshing ache of sore muscles in her legs – muted by the magic of the miraculous. Sk8r Girl and the Lancer bantering back and forth about a half-block ahead of where she and la Gymnaste jogged side-by-side. Off in the distance, the sound of cars driving – so much less traffic this late at night than normally. The sights and sounds of Paris at night, so comforting and familiar after the six weeks they had spent in Angola, to say nothing of the stressful and chaotic months of rebuilding that had followed. While her life had changed so much since Angola, Paris itself almost seemed to be returning to a sense of normalcy.
Almost.
She was going to miss this over the next seven-plus months. So much was going to change – and not just the changes she was already starting to notice in her body (although Dr. Ouazani and Sabrina had both told her she was imagining them, or at least blowing them out of proportion). By next spring, she would have finally met her baby! She and Ivan would be parents – with all the excitement and stress and exhaustion and… joy that it would bring! How much things would change then! No longer would it just be her and Ivan in an otherwise-quiet apartment. There would be crying, and naps, and dirty diapers, and sleepless nights staying up late because the baby was sick…
How would they handle being parents? How would she? Multiplice already knew that Ivan would be an incredible father – she'd known that for almost as long as she had known him. Despite so often coming across as surly and mean to those he first met, she had gotten to know and fallen in love with the other side of him. One of the first things he had shown her when they started dating had been his tender, supportive side. Ivan had always been there to comfort her and protect her, whenever she had been scared by the madness of Hawk Moth and his Akumas. When she had been Akumatized herself, he had been the only one who could talk her down and bring her back to herself – "taming the beast," as it were. Then, when he had accepted the Ox Miraculous and become Taureau Dechaine, he had only ever put her first: protecting her as best he could before Hawk Moth's final defeat. So of course, he would be a wonderful father to their baby. The best. But would she be as good of a mother? Her stomach churned with anxiety. She hoped she would – she wanted to be. Her own mother had been such a good role model for her: always loving, always there, always listening and consoling when she was scared or unsure. But still. That nagging voice was whispering in the back of her head saying that maybe 18 was too young. Maybe she and Ivan weren't mature enough for this kind of responsibility. Maybe they should have waited until after university before trying to have a baby.
But then she remembered the excitement and joy on Ivan's face when she had shown him the pregnancy test. She remembered the long conversations before they got pregnant. She remembered their parents' happiness when they had told them about the baby. Could she really deny Ivan, or her parents, or even herself the joy of this occasion? So what if they were only 18. Maybe they were still growing. Maybe they were still in university. But they could do this. Together.
"Multiplice? Multiplice?"
Although, having people to support them wouldn't hurt.
Multiplice blinked a couple times and glanced over at la Gymnaste, who wore an expression of concern, staring back at Multiplice. "Huh?" Multiplice felt a slight flush creep up her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I was… lost in thought."
"I've been calling your name for, like, five minutes."
Multiplice winced. "I didn't even hear it," she admitted.
La Gymnaste's shoulders slumped slightly. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."
"No." Multiplice put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to apologize for the fact that I was thinking about other things when I should have been focused on the task at hand," she pointed out. "And since you're my partner on patrol for this evening," she added, giving la Gymnaste a warm smile, "you are right to make sure I'm not distracted!"
La Gymnaste hummed to herself, nodding thoughtfully. "Okay." She let out a breath. "Thanks."
Multiplice stifled a giggle. "Why were you trying to get my attention?" she asked. "Did you spot something?"
La Gymnaste shook her head. "Sorry. No. Actually, I had a question for you. I was just wondering, what all do you do when you're out on patrol?" she asked, studying Multiplice's face carefully. "I mean, I get that we're looking for these burglars tonight, trying to stop them from breaking into any more apartments in the neighborhood. But is that all you do on patrol? Just looking for criminals, I mean."
Multiplice smiled gently. "Every so often we do encounter criminals, or something we can't explain, while we're out on patrol. There have been a few times when Taureau Dechaine fought super-criminals, or even once or twice he stopped much more… mundane criminals." She pursed her lips, trying to push aside the memory of his descriptions of those nights. "There was a rapist one time that he nearly threw across the street. Not that I blame him; I probably would have done even worse! Then, I do remember another time – not on patrol, but still with the Heroes of Paris – Ladybug and Cat Noir had stopped a guy using one of those alien weapons – that wasn't too long after they defeated Hawk Moth; I'd only been a hero for a couple months at that point. Anyways, they found out where the guy had found the weapon, so they asked Ivan and me to go with them and investigate it. So, I got to be one of the first people to set foot on a Shunjar vessel." She shuddered. "It was kind of nerve-wracking, exploring an alien spaceship, not knowing if there was an alien that would attack me, or if I could set off some sort of booby trap that would kill me instantly…"
"It sounds scary!" La Gymnaste's eyes widened.
"Once I was inside and looking around, the fact that it was all so new and exciting took away a lot of the fear," Multiplice replied, shrugging one shoulder. "I was so wrapped up in doing what I needed to do, that I completely forgot about how scared I had been. But that's just an extreme example."
La Gymnaste glanced away from Multiplice for a quick moment as they reached the next intersection and jogged across, pausing in the light of the streetlight on the next corner to scan the buildings to either side of them. "It's… pretty extreme," she pointed out. "Exploring an alien spaceship? Other than the one in the Heroes of Paris' Headquarters, I've never even seen one, let alone gone inside it!"
"Do you want to see it?" asked Multiplice. La Gymnaste gave her a dubious look. "Not everything is like exploring an alien spaceship, of course," Multiplice assured her, patting her arm. "Facing aliens and fighting criminals is only a really small part of what happens when we're patrolling," she explained. "Sometimes, we'll go weeks at a time without encountering any actual criminals on patrol – super or otherwise. Most of the time, it's simple things: helping a lost tourist, pushing a car out of a ditch. I remember one time Miss Pinky and I spent half the night replanting and fixing up a park down by the Seine, just because we could."
"That sounds like so much fun!" squealed la Gymnaste. "I wish I had powers to let me do something like that…" Pursing her lips, she folded her arms. "Lila never wanted to do anything like that when we 'patrolled' together… She was all 'business, business, business'."
Multiplice hummed, trying to hide her grimace. "That does rather sound like her style, doesn't it?" she mused, hopping off the sidewalk into the next intersection. The apartment buildings to either side of them stood tall, the façade illuminated by the streetlights in front of them, which only cast the narrow alleys separating the buildings into even deeper shadow.
"Watch out!" yelped la Gymnaste, jumping forward and starting to reach for Multiplice's arm before freezing and pulling back, an embarrassed look on her face. "I mean…"
Multiplice suppressed a laugh. "I appreciate the effort," she told la Gymnaste. "But just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm going to hurt myself at the slightest provocation!"
La Gymnaste let out a breath and nodded. "I know," she confessed. "I just… I don't want to see anything happen to you – or to the baby."
"Which I appreciate," Multiplice responded. She fixed la Gymnaste with a firm look, though still with a reassuring smile on her lips to lighten the mood. "That's part of the reason I asked you to come with me tonight." Although, Sabrina had suggested the Lancer as a much better "bodyguard" than la Gymnaste, if they were to stumble into the burglar… Multiplice smiled warmly. "I know that you will do your best to keep the baby safe."
La Gymnaste swallowed, tension in her shoulders. "It's just, after what you asked last night, I want to do the best job I can for this baby, if you're going to ask me to be his or her godparent," she explained.
Multiplice put a hand on la Gymnaste's arm. "I know you will do your best," she assured her. "That's why Ivan and I trust you to look out for our baby. And why I'm so glad that you and Philippe just live down the stairs from us. And why I'm glad you agreed to come on patrol tonight with me. Because I trust you. And I want you to be able to be there for our baby." And I want you to be healthy for our baby, she didn't add, squeezing la Gymnaste's arm reassuringly.
"I want that, too." La Gymnaste took in a breath and straightened her back. "I promise: I won't let you down."
Multiplice smiled back at her encouragingly. How long had it been since she had seen the same energy and life in Nadine that had been there before the nightmare had begun? Even last school year, before the truth had come out, there had been a hint of what was happening, buried under the surface. Would Nadine be all the way healed by the time the baby was born? Multiplice really hoped so. And looking into la Gymnaste's eyes, she could see the tiniest spark of the happiness that she'd seen back in the fall, back before this whole ordeal had started. Lila had stamped it down into almost nothing, but she hadn't been able to fully extinguish it. It was still there. Multiplice could see a hint of the old Nadine starting to shine through. Maybe Nadine could get back to something like the Nadine she had been before Lila completely ruined her self esteem and turned her into the timid, scared little girl that they had rescued so many months ago.
It would just take time. Time and patience.
Suddenly, la Gymnaste cocked her head to one side, her brows furrowed suspiciously. "Hang on…" she murmured. "What was that?"
Multiplice paused, closing her eyes and concentrating on what she could hear. Just ahead of them, Sk8r Girl and the Lancer had already stopped moving; Sk8r Girl tightened her grip on her hockey stick, holding it warily in two hands. The Lancer's joints creaked as she turned about to search the area around them. But apart from the sounds of her companions… Multiplice frowned. "I don't – I'm not sure."
Letting out a grumble, Sk8r Girl unleashed a shrill hoot, immediately answered by another hoot from somewhere above them. Turning to the other three, she folded her arms. "Let's see if we can get some answers."