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Adrien stood next to his wife. She was screaming, writhing in pain, gripping his hand and squeezing like her life depended on it. He had gone through this once before with, their first child, Hugo. He was a beautifully chubby baby and perfect in every way possible. When the second child had been announced Marinette seemed to glow. Everything seemed to be going much smoother this time around. That was until they had gotten to the last part of labor. She was having every complication possible and was too far into pushing to just stop and have a c-section. Adrien bent over to wipe the sweat away from her pale forehead, she smiled weakly, that small smile was quickly replaced by a sound of pure pain. Adrien tried to reassure her that it would all be over soon.
After about twenty more minutes of pure agony a small child with black hairs sticking to her head came out crying, her eyes were scrunched closed and she was bawling. She was cleaned and dried, the umbilical cord was cut, and she wrapped up, then she was handed to Marinette. Marinette was weak, she was shaking, but she had sat up and began crying happily into her child, cooing at her softly before handing her off to Adrien.
“Emma, E-Emma Gabriella Agreste”
Adrien smiled at his newborn girl and then looked to Marinette, he didn't know why, but her heart monitor had caught his eye. The beats were slowing down, her heart rate was dropping. The doctors around him assured him it was normal and took the child to test and see if Emma was healthy. Two nurses stayed behind to make sure Marinette didn't have any after-birth complications. Adrien pulled a chair up next to Marinette’s bed and held her hand. She looked at him, she was paler than before and cold, so cold. Her eyes seemed to have lost their vibrant blue, they were clouded over and half lidded. The monitor beeped slower now. The room was quiet and it was all he heard. Adrien smiled at Marinette, softly, and squeezed her hand.
“Hey, we have a baby girl huh, she's so beautiful.”
The monitor slowed and she nodded, her eyes began closing slowly. Adrien could feel his eyes water, the tears fell softly.
“Marinette...hey, stay with me.”
As the monitor began to slow quicker, and an alarm began sound. Doctors rushed back into the room, when they asked Adrien to leave he grabbed one of the doctors by the collar, anger had taken over his entire body, Adrien yelled at the doctor, shaking him.
“You told me she was fine! You said it was normal!”
Over all the commotion he heard his name. It was soft, and quiet ,something you shouldn't have heard.
He pushed his way through everyone and grabbed Marinette’s hand again. The moniter was dangerously slow and the doctors were trying to get him to leave but he only ignored them. He wanted to stay with his wife.
“I love you, Adrien” He nodded and pressed his forehead to hers.
“I love you too, Marinette.”
The monitor stopped beeping. Adrien felt her final breath on his cheek, it was quick and soft. Adrien fell to his knees, her grip on his hand was gone. The doctors and Nurses around him seemed to work in a blurr. All he could feel was a cold numbness. All he could do was pray that they could bring her back. There was no noise. But the only thing that cut through his mind was the sound of flatline. He hadn't noticed that he was outside of the room. He hadn't noticed that there was a nurse next to him, trying her best to assure him they were doing all they could.
All he could do was think about his life with Marinette up until now. This all started with a school project where they had to pretend to be parents. There was a lump in his throat as he thought about Marinette. He remembered watching her, her hair, the way it would delicately fall over her face was beautiful, her eyes, her skin, her voice, the way she acted, everything about Marinette was perfect. And now she was gone.
He felt it, no one had to tell him, the doctors couldn't bring her back but he tried to stay strong, he had to have faith. It didn't work and he screamed. The lump in his throat had grown larger and he could only scream, the tears in his eyes fell freely and quickly. Adrien stood up and punched the wall. He felt his hand break, but it didn't matter. He had lost the mother of his child, the strong, beautiful girl that had consumed his thoughts had died. She wouldn't be there in the mornings when he woke up. She wouldn't laugh at his stupid jokes anymore, she wouldn't kiss him tenderly on their anniversary. He fell to his knees for the second time today. He beat on the wall with the spare hand he had and only asked why.
What did he do to deserve this. Why did he gain a girl and lose another. Family and Friends got the news and found him. His father had picked him up first. Adrien looked like a mess, Gabriel simply held him. Adrien asked his father why, over and over, he needed an answer, Adrien needed to know what he did wrong, why this happened to him. Adrien was answered with a hand on the back of his head and silence and Adrien knew why, its because no one knew.
Emma, Emma was the only thing on his mind now, what was Emma going to do without a mother? What would he tell her when she got older. He couldn't tell her that Marinette died while giving birth to her, it would kill her.
So many questions raced through his mind as he stayed in his father's embrace. The pain from breaking his hand shot through him and he bit down at his lip. Adrien pushed away from his father and looked up at him. The older Agreste’s face was a mix of pity and sadness, he had grown close to Marinette within the past year and the two had designed lines for children and teenagers together. Adrien turned and looked to Tom and Sabine, he knew that this was hard on them too, she was their only child afterall. Adrien walked over and was soon enveloped in a hug. They were whispering, assuring him they would help in anyway they could. He heard it but couldn't answer, he knew if he went to make any sound it would come out as a sob.
Doctors filed out of the room and assured what they had all feared. Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Agreste had passed away only thirty minutes after the birth of her daughter.
The world around Adrien turned black, he couldn't tell if he had passed out because of the news that his wife had died or the pain he had struggled not to feel from his hand. Adrien heard the sound of the monitor. Or was it an alarm clock?
His eyes flew open and revealed the ceiling of his room. He was in his house, his room, his bed, he didn't move for a while, his eyes stayed forward before he heard a little groan next to him. He sat up, shut the alarm clock off and turned. Marinette was laying in their bed, her back was turned to him, her hair was a mess. He slapped his hand over his mouth and choked back a sob. Marinette groaned again and turned. He saw her in all her glory, her beautiful blue eyes, her porcelain skin, her lips that maintained a pale pink. She sat up and looked at her sobbing husband.
“Adrien? Whats wrong? Kitty, are you okay?!” She scooted closer to him and tried to wipe away his tears. He only nodded and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled and ran her slim digits through his hair and cooed at him.
“Shhh it’s okay, I’m here, I’m right here Adrien”
He nodded and moved his head to cuddle in the junction between her head and shoulder, he kissed and nibbled at it and then sat back up.
“I had a nightmare that I lost you, I didn't know what to do Mari, I was so lost, I-” She put a single finger to his lips and smiled softly at him.
“You know I wouldn't leave you alone. Just like i know you wouldn't ever leave me.”
“I love you, Marinette”
“I love you too Adrien. Now go wake up Emma and Hugo. They have to go to school.”
He watched as she flopped back down onto the bed and pulled the covers back up. Adrien smiled and slid the covers off of himself before groggily walking out of their bedroom. He gave his wife's sleeping figure one last smile before closing the door behind him.