Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She still couldn't quite believe it. She's known for a few weeks and yet a part of her was nervous. Sure, they had talked about starting a family when they had just started dating, but still. It still hadn't quite sunk in. 

About six months along and there weren't a lot of signs that she was showing. No morning sickness, no fatigue. Yes, she may have been moody at times, but it was thought to be the stress from work, not hormones. She did gain some weight and it wasn't until an argument she had with her husband that one day in particular did she suspect anything was off. Even then, she had managed to throw him off even if her lying still sucked.

Not even her mom or grandma had suspected anything at first. She told Maman and Nonna on Mother's Day about her little surprise. The Dupain-Cheng women had promised to keep it a secret from her grandfather, dad and husband. She was going to tell them today. 

Grandpa will be happy, but as usual, not show a lot of emotion. Papa? She could bet that he'd pick her up and maybe cry. 

As for her husband? 

Adrien would definitely not expect it. Especially today of all days. Both Mother's Day and Father's Day had been bittersweet ever since the defeat of Hawk Moth. Finding out his father had wanted to revive his mother had made the last year of lycée difficult. Orphaned and with a multi-million business to run, Adrien relied heavily on his girlfriend and surrogate family while he came to terms with what had happened. 

While both of Paris's superheroes had to heal from the responsibilities they faced on a daily basis, nothing had been able to stop them from being able to have some kind of normalcy. 

Today would be no different. 

Marinette had spent quite some time making the presents for the three. Just like her mom and Nonna, Grandpa and her dad would be receiving a specially designed mug, blanket and shirt reflecting their new statuses of Great-grandparent and Grandparent. Adrien’s present involved more items. Some of which she needed her mom's help with.

Everything had been wrapped and was stored in the designer's childhood bedroom. Now it was just a matter of making sure things went along. 

Even on Father's Day, the Dupain-Cheng bakery and pastry shop was open. Tom and Sabine couldn't take the day off, so Marinette shared the news with her dad and grandfather over an early morning breakfast as Sabine recorded. (Adrien was set to come over once it was lunchtime.) The moment the fathers opened their presents went about as well as the Dupain-Cheng women expected… but Roland Dupain crying was not anticipated. After much hugging, fussing over her health and many "buns in the oven" puns from her dad, Marinette was sent to rest despite her protests for wanting to help at the bakery. With nothing much to do, she spent the morning putting the final touches on the presents. 

When lunch rolled around, Adrien placed the presents he got his father-in-law and grandfather-in-law on the kitchen table and found his wife snoring away on the couch of her childhood home. His in-laws were closing down the bakery for lunch and had sent him straight upstairs. He didn't want to wake her, and yet had to. Marinette was a deep sleeper. If she wasn't awoken now, she'd sleep through lunch and then poor Tikki would be left with trying to calm her down. Speaking of the kwami–

"Plagg?"

"What, Kid?" mumbled the kwami of Destruction as he ate his lunch, a small cheese bread. 

"Is Tikki down here? She's usually nearby if Marinette’s asleep…" 

"Have you tried calling out for her?"

"I don't want to wake Marinette up."

Plagg continued munching his food. "Her pah-ents are going tchoo wake her up tchoo eat. Ya may as well way her up now. She's gonna complain anyways."

"I'm not you. I don't like having to wake her up unless absolutely necessary."

Another small voice came from near the window. "She needs to eat." It was Tikki. "This isn't the first time you've done this, Adrien. It's been five years since you got together with Marinette. She knows you wake her up because you love her. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I know, but she's been overworking herself and she needs all the rest she can get."

"You also need to take care of yourself as well," stated the kwami of Creation. "Tomorrow neither of you go into work, right? You can spend the day resting! But right now? Marinette needs to be woken up and I'm not doing it. I already woke her up this morning." She knew her holder's secret. Neither her kwami counterpart nor the model had picked up on the subtle hints yet. 

Tikki flew over to her cup of cookies as Adrien kneeled down next to his sleeping wife. He pushed her bangs away from her face and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Marinette, time to wake up. It's lunchtime."

He got no response. 

"Mari…" He kissed her nose. 

The designer whined a bit. She obviously felt something on her nose, but still, she didn't wake up. 

Just like in Sleeping Beauty and Snow White , Adrien placed a kiss on the lips of his sleeping princess. And it seemed to do the trick. Marinette’s face relaxed for a moment before blinking and yawning. 

"Good morning, Princess. I guess the third time's the Lucky Charm?"

"M–Morning, Minou. Wh-When did you get here?" 

"Not too long ago. Your parents and grandparents insisted I don't help with closing down for lunch."

"They have their reasons. You can help me start warming up the food. Nonna and Maman made some of the food yesterday, but I finished the rest earlier."

"Whatever you need, let me know. I may have learned how to cook, but you're the chef, not me," he chuckled. 

The hearty meal went without a hitch for the most part. 

Except for the butterflies in Marinette’s stomach and the sudden urge to toss Plagg’s camembert in the trash. She had gotten used to the smell, and yet today of all days…

Really, body? You decide now is the time for me to get morning sickness?

Marinette had managed to hide her mood swings, cravings and the baby's kicks, but this? Adrien would be worried. Sure, he is supposed to find out, but not with me crying and about to yell at Plagg to get rid of his cheese.

Her ever-protective husband was restraining himself from holding her as her mom reassured him that she was fine.

"It's just that I didn't get a lot of sleep and since I ate a big breakfast before sleeping, I think lunch just settled badly. I'll be fine, Adrien," she said as the butterflies in her stomach felt more like actual kicks. 

She had felt the kicks, but this was the first time she had felt the strength of the small being inside of her.

Sabine gave her daughter a questioning look. Do you still want to do this today?

"Oh! I forgot something upstairs," said Marinette as her mom let her get off the couch. 

"What did you forget?" asked Adrien.

"Just a thing I should've brought downstairs earlier."

Adrien was still worried. "Are you sure, Mari? What if you get sick again?"

"The thing is in my room, right by the door. It'll be less than a minute."

"Okay." 

Marinette went to her room and retrieved a cardboard box that had several things wrapped in wrapping paper and bags with tissue paper sticking out of them. 

Green and silver caught Adrien’s eye. As far as he knew, neither of those colors were associated with Tom nor Roland. That could only mean–

Marinette set the box in front of him. "These are for you, Adrien," she told him a bit winded and out of breath as she sat down next to him.

The blond was confused. Presents for him? It wasn't his birthday and their anniversary wasn't for a few more months. "Are these presents you forgot to give me for my name days these last few years?" he teased.

The raven-haired lady blushed. "N–No. The beret was the only present ever made."

 "So they're graduation presents?"

"Neither."

"So what's the occasion?"

"It's a surpurrise, Kitty," she whispered. 

"Did you just–"

Tom and Sabine couldn't help but laugh as they saw their daughter glare at her husband while they recorded the events. 

Adrien kissed her cheek. "Thank you, for whatever they are. Coming from you, I know they'll be my favorite."

Marinette had her husband open the presents in a specific way. First up were new sets of onesie pjs based on several of his superhero persona. Ice Chat, Aqua Chat, Mister Bug and of course, Chat Noir. They came with detachable hoods and face masks. 

"These are so soft. They'll be clawesome to wear during the winter!"

Marinette couldn't help but smile. "Cats, whether adults or small kittens, do need to stay warm." 

"Okay, what's next?"

Next came a few quilts and blankets, still very much in theme with Chat Noir, but also Ladybug. What followed was what confused Adrien. It was mini versions of all the stuff he just opened in addition to some small washcloths, towels and bathrobes.

"Are we getting a dog? Or a cat?!"

Adrien’s excitement was contagious as the Dupain-Chengs laughed. Marinette shook her head. "No, we aren't getting a dog…" Her voice cracked and she tried not to cry. "I can neither confirm nor deny that we aren't having a kitten joining our family…"

"So we are getting a cat, Mari?" 

A couple of tears fell as the mom-to-be handed the unsuspecting dad-to-be a thin, large envelope. "Open that first."

The model pulled out what looked like Marinette’s designs. "Are these new ideas? You know you don't have to ask me about having them produced."

"It's not that. Knowing you, I expect we'll be releasing these as a new line soon and you won't want to wait. I've been wearing the test designs and so far everyone at the company has liked them. Obviously they don't know that it's actually a proposed line, but before I take them to the design team, I need your feedback on a few more designs." She handed him the last bag.

"Um, sure."

The first thing the blond pulled out were two plushies that looked like their kwamis and a Ladybug and Chat Noir doll like the ones Marinette was known for making. Unlike the other dolls though, these two dolls were softer and weren't as stiff. "These are some kind of toys?"

"You could say that." Marinette could definitely feel their baby kicking even more. Did he understand that he was finally going to meet his dad after all this time? Subconsciously, she rubbed her stomach. Just hang in there for a little bit more, Chaton. "The rest of the designs are inside the bag."

Adrien was more confused than before. He knew that all of this stuff wasn't exactly what was needed for a cat. It'd just get ruined. But why the designs? That's what was stumping him.

He stuck his hand inside the bag once more and pulled out five onesies. Each one was a different color or pattern: lime green with black paw prints, black, silver, red with black spots, and a white one with ladybugs and black cats. On each one there was a word embroidered on: Bébébug, Chatonoir, Chatbug, Minoubug, Chatonbug. 

It took him a bit to understand that they were punny names. Puns on their superhero names. But Bébé bug? That one didn't make sense for a cat. 

Looking up at his wife, she pointed at the bag. "I love these, but I don't get it."

Taking the bag from him, the designer pulled out an envelope he missed at the bottom or that fell. "You should take a look at this before I explain everything."

Putting the last of the clothing aside, he opened the envelope. In it was a grainy black, gray and white photo. It looked like–

"I was thinking it was about time we added a maternity and children's line, don't you think?" 

He looked up at her smiling face. "Marinette, is this– Are we– Are you–?" 

"Happy Father's Day, Adrien." Nodding, she took one of his hands and placed it on her stomach just as she felt the baby kick. "Uh huh."

Now it all made sense.

"How– How long? When did you find out?" If he had missed out on all those appointments–

"About six months, but I only just found out right before Mother's Day… So seven weeks ago?" Marinette started crying. "I know it's kind of crazy since I really didn't have any signs right away, but once I knew… I couldn't think of any other way to tell you and–"

He kissed her and brushed back her bangs. "I loved it. It was purrfect."

"Oh," she breathed out as she rubbed her stomach again. "I think our Babybug is happy to know that his dad finally knows about him."

"It's–" He glanced between their hands on her stomach and her face. "Hugo or Louis?" 

"Yes."

"He's our Kitten. We're having a Kitten." He couldn't help but pick her up bridal style, spin her around once and kiss her before gently setting her down on the couch.

"I'm due in late August or early September."

"We need to start figuring out your maternity leave and my paternity leave. This means we'll most likely be out until the new year. In that case–" Adrien began before Marinette stopped him.

"We'll figure that out with time, but right now let's just focus on celebrating you becoming a dad."

Chapter Text

After some cake and punch to commemorate the arrival of the newest member to the Agreste-Dupain-Cheng family, Tom and Sabine had to return to their job downstairs. Nonna Gina and Grandpa Roland left, promising to stop by at some point to help with baby stuff. This had left a very tired Marinette dozing off on the couch. After helping with the clean up, Adrien carried his wife upstairs to her childhood bedroom so she could rest. 

Adrien cuddled her while he rubbed her stomach. It seemed that ever since his announcement to the last member of the family, Baby Bug was ready to arrive. He was kicking again.

"Chaton, you need to sleep a little bit," she mumbled quietly to the baby, rubbing her eyes. "Daddy and I can't wait to see you, but we only just found out about you. You'll have to be patient with us. Three months isn't a long time to get used to all of the changes, but we're happy you're here. So, how about some sleep?"

"Marinette, you okay?" asked Adrien. Now that he knew that his wonderful wife was going to be a mother, he didn't want to miss out on anything. 

"Mm hmm. Just trying to get someone to settle down for a bit–" she paused to yawn. "–so I can take a nap. I'm not sick, but I think I may end up with some late morning sickness. The camembert really did a number on my nostrils."

"Camembert? As in Plagg’s camembert?"

"Yup. I don't want to take it away from Plagg, but I'm not sure if smelling it again will make me throw up and I'd rather not–"

"It's fine. I'll talk with Plagg and see if we can come up with a compromise. If you end up with food cravings, let me know and Chat Noir will scat away to get it faster than you can." He paused as he thought about it. Chat Noir could get anywhere fast, but Ladybug? "Actually, now that I think about it, you should probably stay away from patrolling for now. We don't want you or the baby in danger. And we'll need to find a way to make sure our announcement doesn't line up with Ladybug’s disappearance from patrols and the public eye for the next year or so. Then there's the matter of getting stuff ready for his arrival, and then the baby's room once he's old enough to sleep by himself. I'm thinking maybe we can have a door connected to our room. What do you think–"

"Adrien–"

"–about having him learn Chinese and Italian from your mom and grandma? He could learn English at school for whenever we have to visit my Aunt Amelie since he'll learn French obviously. And will–

"Chaton–" 

"–we be sending him to a private school? I figure you want to send him to public school, but we can get him private tutors as well if you want. Just not the ones I had. And nannies. We can't forget one of those. Do you want one that speaks Chinese or Italian? What about–"

"Minou–"

"-cleaning staff to come in once a week after the baby is older? We also need to set up our wills and name godparents in case something happens. I want your parents to raise our Kitten if we’re gone, but I also think Alya and Nino would be a good fit. But what if something happens to Alya and Nino while they're helping us out with superhero stuff? I don't want anything to happen to you, Bugaboo. That's it. I'm putting you on maternity leave starting tomorrow! We'll work from home and figure out how–"

Marinette sat up and interrupted him with a kiss. The blond had been caught off guard, but soon reciprocated. 

"You're not one to kiss me like that very often, My Lady," said Adrien as he sat up, placing a kiss atop of Marinette’s head. "Something wrong?"

"Not really. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You're starting to sound like me and I don't like it."

"What do you mean?"

Shifting so she could face him better, Marinette ran one of her hands through his hair. "You're worrying about me and the baby more than I've been this entire time that I've known."

"I just want to keep you both safe, Mari."

"And you will. I know you'll do everything you can to make sure our little Bug has everything he needs. As for some of the stuff you mentioned… let's hold off on that once he's older. I know you don't want to repeat your childhood. It's not. It's not going to happen."

His eyes glazed over with doubt. "But what if it does?"

"Adrien… Kitty… Is this about your parents not being around?" she asked gently, scratching the top of his head like the car he was.

A few tears fell. "My mom… She didn't get– I never got to– I don't know if I can do this without her… If Father hadn't done what he did… Maybe right now we'd–"

She nuzzled his nose. "You're not your father, Adrien. No matter what you hear or what others think or say, you aren't your father. You're you. You're Adrien Agreste. My husband and best friend, my partner, my Chaton. Yes, you run a multi-million dollar business, but you don't let that go to your head. You're kind, compassionate, funny, selfless… You're an amazing best friend and son-in-law. You're so many things. And you're loved by a whole lot of people and kwamis. 

"It's okay to be scared. We're having our first baby and neither of us has had a quiet life in years. We don't know exactly what to do or what to expect, but I do know that you'll love our son as much as your mom loved you. You're already doing a lot and it hasn't been a few hours yet. We'll figure things out together.

"And we won't be alone in raising our baby. My parents and grandparents are here. And you know our friends. Once they hear the news… well I guess we'll be set up with babysitters for the next couple of years," she laughed softly. "The point I'm trying to make is, you're not going to end up like your father. We're going to make mistakes. We're not perfect–"

He interrupted her with a peck on the lips. "You're purrfect, Princess."

"I'm not. I've made as many mistakes as you, if not more. But we'll make it through the next three months or so… and through the next eighteen years… We'll be learning about parenting as we go along. We saved Paris. Raising a child should hopefully be more normal."

"Thanks, Bugaboo. I don't know what I'd do without you." He leaned in to kiss her again, but was stopped by his wife's finger pushing his nose back.

"One of us has to keep your hair from getting so full of your ego," she smiled and let out a loud yawn.

"Looks like you can finally take that cat nap, M'Lady. Come on, down you go."

She set the comforter atop of their legs and abdomens before curling up on one side. "You need your sleep too, Kitty Cat…" 

Adrien leaned down to kiss his wife and her belly, then cuddled her from behind. "Sweet dreams."

"Happy Father's Day…"

Chapter Text

The sudden announcement of the new Agreste/MDC maternity and kids lines caught the fashion world by surprise. Sure, they had continued catering to teens and adults, but with these two new additions, people of all ages could be fashionable and comfortable. Over the last four years, Adrien had made it one of his goals to continue providing excellent quality clothing, but at an affordable cost. Marinette’s advice had been vital in helping shape the company in a more positive light. 

Hawk Moth was defeated in such a way that Paris thought he was dead, but only Team Miraculous, the police and Tom and Sabine knew the full truth. Gabriel Agreste's "retirement" wasn't what it sounded like. He may as well be dead. While he had been receiving the appropriate treatment, part of the agreement was that it would be for the rest of his life if it meant saving the Agreste name. Even now he'd hear updates about his son only from the media. 

And Adrien liked keeping it that way. His wife's pregnancy wasn't announced to the public and it helped that she wasn't really showing. No one inside the company knew either. All that the department chairs knew was that Adrien and Marinette were scheduled to work from home starting in late August due to family issues. They assumed it was related to Adrien’s in-laws and neither boss tried to correct their employees.

Marinette and Adrien kept the pregnancy a secret from their friends, until one sudden day in late July when Ladybug and Chat Noir decided to have a short livestream from atop the Eiffel Tower.

While they had continued their daily patrols, Ladybug had stopped going out on solo patrol. From time to time she was seen being carried by Chat (much to her annoyance) or piggybacking off of him. Questions were beginning to come into the Ladyblog. Could Alya get an update from them? It had been a while since the duo gave an interview. 

The livestream was short. 

"Hi Paris! Chat Noir here with my beautiful Lady!"

"Hi, everyone. We're not sure how many of you are tuning in right now, but we wanted to have this short livestream because we have some important news to share. And before anyone asks, or has forgotten, Chat and I got married years ago. So no, this isn't some last minute ceremony at City Hall."

"It's not, but–"

"–but don't get ahead of yourself, Chat. I need to clarify some things first," pointed out the superheroine as Chat's ears flopped down.

"Fine."

"There, there, Kitty. Anyways, there's been some questions about how we're doing and what's up with the change in patrols. Chat and I are very happy. We're healthy and our marriage is wonderful. That being said, I'm going to be taking some time off beginning in August due to a health matter. I'm not sick. I'm not in any danger or at risk for any complications. But, it does mean that I won't be able to swing or run across the rooftops for at least several weeks. Chat found out on Father's Day–"

"–and I couldn't be more excited!" Chat interrupted, his ears perking up and tail swishing in the background. "It's all I ever wanted with My Lady! Bugaboo and I are going to have our Kitten!"

"Chat…"

"What? The Kitten is a baby. You can't deny that having a small kitty is bad–"

"–I'm not, but that wasn't what– You know what? We'll leave it at that. I'm taking time away to get a break and take care of our new Kitten. You should've seen his face when he found out. Chat's been doing everything he can to prepare–"

"You're going to be a pawsitively fabulous mom, LB."

"And you'll need to lay off of the dad jokes–"

"But we wouldn't have it any other way."

"Yeah… And before you all get the idea to start giving Alya stuff to send us for the kitten, we'd rather you donate the money you'd spend on us. Donate it to animal shelters or organizations that help with child adoptions. Everyone, both human and creatures alike, deserve to have a safe home and a family that cares for them."

"Spot on, My Lady."

"Thank you, Chaton. That being said, we need to go unfortunately. We do have rounds to make today before we go on about our day."

"That we do. See you all around. This cat has to scatter on."

"Bug out!"

The two waved goodbye and ended the stream.

In the weeks that followed, Parisians speculated on the news about their heroes getting a kitten. No one needed to take time off from work in order to raise a kitten. So if Ladybug wasn't sick, did she really need to take a break? Not that they didn't think Ladybug didn't deserve a break, but after all these years, why take a break for a cat ?

Were they surprised when one day in the fall, Ladybug showed up on camera with a Kitten– her and Chat Noir's baby in a black little onesie. Chatonoir and Bébébug trended online for days after that. In January of the following year, Adrien and Marinette’s employees were rather shocked when the bosses showed up with a four-month-old infant. Usually one of them was seen with the stroller or with the changing bag nearby. Having a baby around was weird to some (and unprofessional to others), but seeing the two new parents try and balance work and their family ended up being good publicity for them as civilians and heroes. As tiring as it was, neither Marinette nor Adrien would want to trade it for anything.