One Way or Another

A Work Assignment, A Joke and A Bottle of Pills

Alya wrapped Marinette up in a big hug when she heard the news. "Congrats girl! You're going to love having a boy, they're so much fun!"

"Thanks Alya. I'm really excited."

"Is Adrien excited too?"

A sigh. "Not exactly. He was really hoping for a girl. He says that he's not disappointed, but I can tell that he is."

"Oh, that's too bad," Alya lamented. "But don't worry, as soon as he holds that baby in his arms, he'll be fine."

"Yeah, I'm sure he will be."

"Did you guys think of any names yet?"

"Not yet. But now that we know for sure that it's a boy, we'll have to start thinking."

Their conversation was interrupted as Raiden ran up to them. "Ere Mama!" he exclaimed, holding out a block to her.

"Thank you Rayray."

After she took the block, he immediately ran away again.

Marinette chuckled. "Once the baby's born, Raiden will have a friend to play with."

"You know that they're going to be best friends, right? I mean, they have no other choice!"

She laughed more. "Definitely. They definitely will not have a choice in the matter." She reached down and scratched her abdomen through her shirt.

"You okay?" Alya asked, watching her.

"Yeah," she moaned. "It's just this stupid itchy skin. It's been driving me crazy! The doctor told me to put some moisturizing cream on it, but it's not helping at all. If anything it's getting worse. Did your skin feel itchy during your pregnancy?"

"No, not really. Not that I ever noticed."

"Ugh, I hope it goes away. Hopefully it's not that condition that the doctor mentioned. Otherwise I think I'll have it the whole pregnancy."

"Let's look it up. What's it called?"

Marinette looked down in thought. "I think it started with the letter C. It was 'something' of pregnancy. A liver condition."

Alya typed into her phone. After a minute, she found it. "Here it is. Cholestasis of pregnancy." She skimmed the article, moving her lips as she read through. She said the important parts out loud. "A liver condition that causes itching... occurs late in pregnancy... usually occurs on the hands and feet..." She looked up at Marinette. "Are your hands and feet itchy?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "It's only my abdomen."

Alya narrowed her eyes and kept skimming. "Often worse at night... may feel worse as the due date approaches... characterized by severe itching without a rash..."

"Oh!" Marinette interjected after hearing that last part. "There is a rash with it. So I guess it's not that."

Alya turned off her phone. "Well that's good. It sounds like a pretty serious condition."

"Ugh, I'm so relieved. I really don't want this to last the whole pregnancy. Maybe I should try a different cream."

"Hopefully that will help."

Raiden came over and promptly took the block back from his mother before running off.

Alya laughed. "He's such a devil!"

"But he's a cute devil," Marinette countered.

"Yeah, lucky for him," she chuckled. Then she took a breath. "Listen Marinette, I'm sorry but I need to start getting ready for my trip tomorrow. I hate to kick you out, but there's a million things I need to do before I go."