"You…have a kid?"
Was this why she had been so happy to see Chat and a bit less happy to see Adrien? Because she assumed Chat could do something with her kid? That he didn't even know about?! Was this child the result of her ongoing relationship with an abusive partner? Did he abuse the kid too? His own kid? What if Marinette didn't even want this? What if she was—
He couldn't let himself finish that one. Not only was it infuriating, but it was haphazard speculation at best. There was no guarantee things had gotten to that point and certainly no guarantee Marinette had never wanted her child. There really wasn't even a guarantee that the child belonged to her current partner. It would be unwise to assume anything right now.
"A son, Erek," she answered.
"Uh…is he around here…somewhere? In school, maybe…?" Even though it was far too late for children to still be in class…
"He's with his father right now so this is actually the perfect opportunity to talk to someone about this."
"First, let me get 'this' straight. You want to give up your son to anyone willing to adopt him?"
"Do you think he would be better off being raised by a corpse?" she asked grimly.
Her reply was so dark that, despite the obvious response, he couldn't bring himself to say anything.
"It's a huge favor to ask of you," she said, "but there's something important I need to do. I need to know if there's a family out there willing to spend time with him for a while and get to know him. Maybe they'll want to adopt him and he won't be left alone. You're Chat Noir. If you know anyone, I'll trust your word."
"What about his dad?"
Before she even spoke, it was clear that she was choosing her words carefully. "I'm sure there's someone else out there better suited for this."
There was only one person he knew and trusted enough to take care of Marinette's son and he honestly wasn't sure how ready Adrien was to care for any child, no matter whose it was. The only other viable option would be Nino and Alya but they had their hands full with three children of their own, all young and needing constant parental attention. If their kids were older, perhaps it would be a different story, but…
"I have someone in mind but it's just one man," Chat said. "He's financially stable, has his own place, but he's not married."
And wasn't ready to adopt a child. Babysit one at most but permanently care for a small human being? That was more responsibility than leading a double life.
Plus, he knew how hard it was to lose a mother. And when Marinette was gone, no adoptive parent would be able to quell the pain Erek would feel. A pain that ached so much it became physical. It would hurt for a long time.
But if Marinette thought that Erek's real father would be of no use in raising a son, then he had little choice but to trust her judgment. Adrien would be able to take care of the boy until a real home could be located, courtesy of Chat Noir's cooperation.
"He'll do," Marinette said. "They don't have to be married, they just need to be able to raise Erek when I'm gone."
She suddenly got a look of discomfort and stood up to walk toward her kitchen. She pulled out a white Gatorade and began sipping on it. He momentarily wondered how hydrated she stayed throughout the day—this was the second time he'd seen her drinking a hydrating drink instead of just water.
"Are you sure Erek will be okay leaving you?" Chat asked. "Won't he want to spend as much time with you as he can before…you know…"
"He doesn't know," she replied. "I never figured out how to explain death to a six-year-old."
"Does his father know?"
"Well…it's kind of complicated. We have to have a relationship because of Erek but we didn't split on good terms so his knowledge is, um…limited."
"So after he's adopted, will you still be in his life?"
"I'll try to," she said as she put the Gatorade back.
Her discomfort was either hidden or gone and she had a small boost of energy back.
"'Try to' meaning visitations? Maybe moving in…?"
"I'm not so sure about moving in," Marinette laughed. "Definitely visiting him though, and phone calls every night before bed. Play with him at the park, take him out to eat, read to him, all that stuff."
"You know, the person I have in mind would probably really appreciate it if you moved in with him. He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would want to separate a mother and child and…to be honest, it doesn't sound like you want someone taking Erek away from you."
Before she could object, Chat immediately added, "Now, I know it's not something you're very keen on but think of Erek. He's about to lose his mother."
"Chat, I don't think it's a good idea. I want to stay in his life for as long as I can but at the same time, I want him to be comfortable with someone else so it won't hurt when I'm gone," she explained.
"You're wrong," he said. "You already know I lost my mother when I was a kid. My relationship with my father deteriorated so much I might as well have lost him too. Do you really think a replacement would've made that any easier on me? It's going to hurt Erek and if there's one thing I regret in this life, it's not spending enough time with my mother. You are not replaceable to him, Marinette, and your health isn't getting any better."
She sighed and looked up at him with the same jaded eyes that had fallen on Adrien and replied, "I'll think about it."
He opened his mouth to object to a losing battle but opted not to speak against her when she yawned. His eyes refocused themselves on a clock on a stand behind her and although it wasn't very late for him, it was probably getting late for her.
For the time being, he would let her "think about it" and get some rest.
"I'll head out now and let you sleep. When do you want me to pick him up?" Chat asked.
"If you could drop by tomorrow night, that would be great," she answered.
"Tomorrow is…uh…quick…"
"Erek's father will have dropped him off here by then but he might try to come back for him again the next day. I need to know my son will be okay."
Chat sighed and nodded. It wasn't that he didn't understand where she was coming from, because he certainly did, it was that he knew he would end up empathizing too much with Erek's pain. He wanted Marinette to be comfortable in her last moments, with someone she knew she could trust and with her son.
"How much time do you think you have left?"
She shrugged casually, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have to answer this question.
"Dunno," she said. "I have some bad days but I'm not on my deathbed just yet."
He drew a breath as the thought of Marinette dying as he did nothing more than watch surfaced in his mind. It was made far less pleasant when he imagined a little boy dying in a much different way. Then Adrien would be left trying to mend a wound he'd never quite healed from himself. First his mother, then his love, then his friend…and he'd be left with a child who could very well repeat the cycle he was going through now. Too many losses in too short a time. A grieving boy that would remind him of those losses. To top that all was his own struggle to cope with this giant roadblock in his life.
"You seem tired so I'll leave," he said. "Do me a favor for old times' sake though?"
"Of course."
"Please think about moving in with Adrien. He's the only one that comes to mind when you're trusting me to find someone capable of raising your son."
Better to be honest and get it out there now rather than have her think it could be some sort of setup later. She already knew Chat and Adrien had crossed paths before so who was to say they weren't friends like Chat and Marinette were?
"I… We're not…exactly close anymore…and…"
He nodded, once again in understanding, and added, "And it's weird, I get that."
"Yeah…"
"If you don't want Adrien to take Erek, I'll try to find someone else. It would probably really awkward if you just gave him a kid and didn't stick around."
"No, no, Chat, I'm fine with your decision. Chances are you've had more contact with him than I have in the past ten years…" she said, mumbling the last sentence.
"Are you sure? I don't want to make any choices for Erek that you aren't comfortable with."
She twiddled with a lock of her blue hair and bit her lip in brief thought.
"I'll think about it," she said. "No promises though."
He mentally rolled his eyes at such a predictable answer but smiled and bowed to lighten the mood and keep things friendly.
"Well then, princess," he said, "I bid you adieu."
She smiled back at him as he headed towards her door but he got the feeling it was more out of courtesy than sincerity.
"Bye, Chat! See you tomorrow night?"
He turned before closing the door and said, "I look forward to seeing you both."
He didn't pause to make sure Marinette got to bed without toppling over and bleeding out of every orifice in her body. He didn't even turn around to make sure the lights in her house ever turned off. He hoisted himself into the air with his staff and moved steadily towards his apartment. She wasn't going to stay with Adrien. She could potentially consider it if he remained Chat forever, since apparently Chat was just as close a friend as always while Adrien had only drifted away. He still didn't get that—why Chat over Adrien? At least Adrien worked with her and stayed connected. Chat had even less contact with Marinette than Adrien over the past decade so where was the logic?
Unless, of course, she saw him more as a means to an end than the close pal he used to be. If that was the case, then it all made sense. He was essentially a tool to make sure her son was still taken care of when she died. There was a possibility that, sure, she still saw him as a friend, but certainly not a close one. He had no problem doing this for her but a small part of him wished she had treated him like she had treated Adrien—very awkwardly and stiff—rather than buttering him up to ask possibly the biggest favor any mother could ask.
…Mother…
That sounded so weird.
Marinette wasn't known to be anyone's mother. She wasn't known to be married, engaged, not even dating. But a baby? Why was this information never presented to the group of people that used to be closest to her? She could've had free babysitters every day of the week. She could've maintained some sort of social life and even made new connections with Alya since Alya had three little ones. It could've provided Marinette with support if and when she ever needed it. Erek could've had caretakers all those times Marinette was in the hospital.
He wanted to think of Marinette as selfish but…it was hard to think of her that way when she was dying. Not to mention, he didn't have all the details. He caught whiffs of domestic abuse from the doctors at the hospital and Marinette herself did say something about Erek's father not being suitable for the job, but that was all. Marinette hadn't openly said anything. So far it was just implied but if she was being abused then that would've been a good reason for cutting herself off, or perhaps he had forced her into social isolation. It wouldn't have been the first time Chat Noir dealt with an abusive partner—twice he'd had to break up fights between significant others, both times discovering that the couples' relationships had been built on deceit and emotional manipulation.
So he really couldn't bring himself to say Marinette was selfish this whole time. Perhaps, in her mind, she really was only doing what was best. And for all he knew, maybe at the time, she was doing what was best. He planned to get the full story eventually but for now he decided to leave it alone. He knew he'd have a loud and unhappy kwami to deal with the moment Chat became Adrien again.
As he finally arrived at his apartment and entered the relaxing familiarity of his own space, he detransformed and braced for impact.
Sure enough, his cat kwami was glaring daggers at his back.
"A KID?!" Plagg screamed, evidently not hungry as he normally would be after a transformation. "A KID, ADRIEN?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
"I was thinking about Marinette and her son. I didn't exactly plan for that little detail to come up," Adrien explained. "One thing just led to another."
"WE CAN'T HAVE A KID IN HERE!"
"Why not? It's just one little boy. It can't be that bad."
Hard, absolutely, but bad? It wasn't like Erek was a villain. He was six. At best he would be a bed-wetter or maybe need a lullaby or bedtime story…something like that.
"THIS IS VERY BAD!" Plagg argued. "YOU'RE CHAT NOIR!"
"Oh, really? I forgot."
"YOU CAN'T BRING A CHILD INTO BATTLE!"
"I won't, Plagg, okay?" Adrien calmly tried to assure him. "It's just until I can find a more permanent home for him."
The kwami crossed his arms and looked at him both angrily and skeptically.
"And if you can't?"
"According to Marinette, he's six years old. I'm Chat Noir, I can find somebody in…maybe a week or two?"
"Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste are famous," Plagg started. "Anyone would take a kid from either of them just to be popular by association. Can you even begin to imagine how much press coverage you would get no matter who you are? The safest place for the kid is with his mom."
"Not when she could die any day, Plagg."
"I meant for now. It's not like I didn't hear your entire conversation. Yeah, she has a kid, pretty surprising, but you volunteering to take that kid?! Blew me away! You can barely make it as Chat Noir the hero and Adrien Agreste the model, explain how you'll fit being a dad in there."
"I have connections—"
"Yeah, more celebrities! The problem stays the same whether you're the middle man or not. You need to leave him with Marinette and let her figure out what to do with her kid."
"She already did and you're shooting down her solution."
"Because it's not a solution, Adrien! She's literally dumping a child on some random person that you are choosing! Don't you see she's putting all the responsibility on you?"
"The whole city puts their responsibility on me," Adrien retaliated. "Why are you so worked up over one more person depending on Chat Noir?"
"Because her whole 'solution' is a farce," Plagg said.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you think it's funny that she left a huge part of the picture out when she talked to Adrien but didn't hesitate to tell Chat? She's obviously not comfortable with Adrien taking her kid."
"She's trusting Chat to make the right decision."
"Yeah, the right decision in her place. If it was up to her, she wouldn't have chosen you."
"Yeah, if it was up to her. Like you said, she's putting the responsibility on me. Maybe she isn't comfortable with Adrien but she trusts Chat Noir to make the right decision for her and Chat Noir trusts Adrien."
"Why not choose an old friend? Someone you've kept up with all these years?"
"The only ones I've really kept up with are Alya and Nino, Plagg."
"Perfect!" he exclaimed as he clapped his kwami paws together. "They'll make great parents, they already have the experience!"
"They already have three kids," Adrien said. "Maybe they'll be willing to take Erek but it might be too much for them."
"It's still worth a shot though."
Adrien took a deep breath while Plagg stared pleadingly at him. But he had to make what he thought was the right decision, the one that was best for Erek rather than Plagg. He was sure he could provide a good temporary home while he searched for loving parents.
"I already made up my mind," he said.
A/N
Been a long time, I know, and I apologize. I've had a LOT of things going on in multiple areas of my life and it's been a roller coaster. Got burnt out several times but I finally finished this and I'm working on the next chapter at this very moment! Next one will be long so I'll most likely have to split it into two or three parts but I've been very excited about it! :D