After I Knew: The Agreste Short Stories

The Baby - Part 1

Marinette sat on her stool and pushed it closer to her sewing desk but bumped her stomach instead. 
"Ow!" she said, placing a hand on her swollen belly. She was almost through with the second trimester of her pregnancy but something felt weirdly off. She hadn't gone to the doctor in a while (owing to Tikki's regular check ups on her) and healthy as she felt, she was sure there was something different about her pregnancy.

"Everything good?" Adrien said rushing into the room. His panicked face looked at Marinette and then the baby bump and back to Marinette.
"I'm fine," Marinette said getting up. She was in no condition to sew and decided to call up an assistant later. 
"The baby might respond soon," Tikki said, rushing in.
Just then, Marinette felt a jab in her stomach.
"She kicked," Marinette whispered.
"What?" Adrien asked, more in disbelief than confusion.
"She kicked!" Marinette said, louder. Marinette and Adrien laughed, both their hands on the belly. Adrien tapped it and a kick with twice the power came as result. Or was it with both feet? Marinette thought.

Marinette looked at Adrien seriously now. "Adrien, something feels off," she said.
"Why? What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the baby?" Adrien said, the last question directed at Tikki.
"The energy I feel is good. Nothing seems to be wrong," Tikki confirmed.
"No, nothing is wrong. It's just...different," Marinette said.
"I'll book an appointment," Adrien said. Marinette nodded and sat on the couch.

-x-x-x-

"Can we add monkey features?" Xuppu asked.
"It's a human baby. They already have monkey DNA," Wayzz said.
"DN what?" 
"DNA Xuppu."
"But why isn't she a monkey?"
"Why are you?"
"I don't know, why am I?"
Wayzz groaned. Marinette chuckled as the little monkey flitted around her belly. She always had the kwamis around her when she realized she didn't necessarily have put the Miraculous on to have a kwami around. Adrien sometimes patrolled as Cat Noir (Marinette was convinced he just wanted to show off in Cat suit) and the kwamis always helped her around (some more than others).

Fluff went and settled on Marinette's stomach.
"Whew, that's gonna be a lot of work," Fluff said, rubbing the belly.
"Babies are a lot of work," Marinette said.
"Yeah, babies..."
Orikko got up from the shelf and approached Fluff nervously. 
"Fluff?" he said, "What was that?"
"What?" Fluff said, getting up cautiously.
"The way you said 'babies', there was something off about it."
"No there wasn't."
"What's going on?" Marinette said.
"Fluff is hiding something," Orikko said.
"No I'm not!" Fluff quickly defended.
"As your best friend, I can confirm that there is something you need to tell us."
"Er..." Fluff squirmed, uncomfortably.
"Orikko, it's okay. She knows that there is a time for everything. Let her be," Marinette said.
"Marinette, actually," Fluff said, "there's something you should know." 
"What is it?"

Fluff took a deep breath and looked at Tikki. Tikki gave a nod and both of them looked at Marinette.
"Marinette as the Guardian, you have the responsibility of choosing an heir," Tikki said.
"But since you're Guardian and pregnant..." Fluff said.
"What?" Marinette asked.
Tikki looked up at Marinette seriously. "Your firstborn has be the heir," she said.
Marinette looked puzzled. "What do you mean by 'has to be'?"
Tikki sighed. She knew this will happen one day or another. "This was a spell made by the Creators...whenever the Guardian line produces an offspring, the firstborn will become the next heir.
"So my baby is the next guardian?" Marinette said. The kwamis nodded.

Marinette was already panicking. She knew something was off, but making her baby the Guardian? She had so many questions about all this: Will she have to give up being Guardian? Will she raise her baby with no memories of her past? Will she have to stay away from her baby? Will someone get her baby?
"Marinette, there are some perks to this," Tikki said, noticing the rising tension on Marinette's face, "It was because of the consequences of denouncing yourself as Guardian that this rule was brought about."
"You won't lose any of your memories," Fluff said. Marinette sighed. This was the relief she needed. So she can look after her baby and keep her memories. 
"And you can handover the Guardianship any time you want," Fluff said. "There are, of course some exceptions, but I don't think they will necessarily be a danger to you.
"You absolutely cannot hand it over to someone else," Wayzz said. "Then that person's memories will be erased and they will have no knowledge of the Miraculous or how to take care of them."
"But they will still be the Guardian?" Marinette asked. Wayzz nodded.

Marinette pondered over all the new information. She didn't see any problem in it. She was sure her daughter would become a good guardian one day, she had Marinette to teach her. Besides, Marinette was given this responsibility of Ladybug at the mere age of thirteen. If Marinette can be the guardian at 15 then she had no fear her daughter would be any less different.
"Marinette, there's still a problem," Fluff said.
"What is it?"
Fluff looked at her gravely, before saying, "Who will be the Guardian?"

-x-x-x-

"I don't know, she didn't say anything else," Marinette said, walking into the clinic.
"What do you think she means?" Adrien asked. She had just explained everything to Adrien on the car ride to the clinic and he didn't see a problem in their family producing an heir, giving Marinette the element of relief.
"It could mean a lot of things Adrien," Marinette said, "But I can't see positive outcome because of that question. What if I'm too scared to make her a Guardian? What I don't live to make her Guardian? What if...what if she doesn't live to be Guardian?"
"Hey hey hey," Adrien said, holding her, "Our days of adventure are over, okay? Nothing will happen to you or the baby. Besides, didn't Tikki say that she sensed good energy?"
Before Marinette could said anything, the nurse called out, "Mrs. Agreste?"

Marinette greeted the doctor and lied down on the bed. She spread the gel on Marinette and started scouring on the ultrasound.
 She spotted the baby and then knitted her eyebrows. "Oh," she said.
Marinette perked up. "What? What is it?"
The doctor kept looking around, not responding. 
"Is there something wrong?" Adrien asked eagerly. Marinette was frantic and aggressively wished she could understand ultrasounds.
"I don't think it's wrong..." the doctor said, her eyes still fixed on the screen. "It's not exactly wrong...it's just quite rare actually. Miraculous, even."
Adrien broke into a grin though the tension and even Marinette relaxed a little.
"I don't understand how this wasn't detected earlier but congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Agreste. You're having twins."