Too Young For Love (On Hold) ~ A Miraculous Love Story

Chapter 13: Decision

"Marinette, are you okay?"

She snapped her head up and found Alya staring at her worriedly, her hands frozen in mid-air. "Yeah," she replied. Marinette straightened on the couch and cleared her throat, "As good as can be."

Alya frowned. "So what are you gonna do that you've been thrown out? Nino and I are more than welcome to have you here, but we didn't plan on having to baby proof the house for another couple of years." She offered Marinette a sympathetic smile.

"No, I could never ask that of you," she replied, "My parents are aware of the situation and they're over the moon to have him stay with them. Manon will have to cycle a few extra blocks, but she says she wouldn't mind the exercise." She shook her head. "That girl isn't half the little devil she used to be."

Alya laughed. "Well at least your parents will get to see more of the little guy. And maybe he can even help at the bakery."

"I wish," huffed Marinette, "Hugo's got a good heart, but he's gotten all of my awful genes. One day he knocked over a tray of macaroons and we had to replace the entire batch in less than an hour, then he covered a cake on order in the wrong color icing, spilled flour all over the flours," she counted the mistakes on her fingers.

"I'm sure you're exaggerating."

"Believe me, I'm not."

Alya shifted nervously in her seat. "So has he asked about...about the dad thing?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

Alya pursed her lips and brought her mug to her chest. Her glasses fogged a little from the steam, but she ignored it completely. "I know it's not my place, but Marinette, don't you think it's about time you got him a father?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "What?"

"Well, Hugo's a growing boy, and even though he's got your dad it's important for him to have a male role model in his life. Nino's more than willing to compensate, but we can't be around all the time and," Alya sighed, "You can't keep doing this on your own."

"I've been doing fine on my own," snapped Marinette.

"No you haven't," replied Alya, "I know this isn't any of my business, but you're my best friend and I care for what's best for you."

"So you expect me to get hitched with the next guy that walks around the corner?" scoffed Marinette.

Alya leaned back in her sofa and blew on the hot chocolate in her mug. "Well, Adrien did come back to Paris."

"No!" Marinette stood up from the sofa and waved her hands in front of her, "Absolutely not! I'm not a little girl anymore Alya and those dumb fantasies are going to stay exactly what they are. I barely spoke two words to him without stuttering, I couldn't have a proper conversations with the boy."

"Well he's not a boy anymore and you're not a little girl anymore. He's come back and while I'm still not completely happy about him disappearing, this could be a game changer for you and the little guy."

Marinette wanted to argue further, to tell Alya she was completely wrong, but even she couldn't deny the quickening of her pulse or the heat rushing to the surface of her skin. It was such a stupid dream, to think a boy as perfect as Adrien would settle for a clumsy baker's daughter.

But it wasn't just about their past together. Her involvement with Chat hadn't only complicated things because of Hugo. Seeing him last night, hearing him say the words she'd wanted to hear for so long had brought along with them a fresh set of pain that made her relive everything all over again.

He hadn't been there when she'd gone through telling her parents she was pregnant, through dropping out of high school and pretending to be home-schooled. He hadn't been the one to read through thousands of baby books, break their bank of baby items and give up their dreams to make room for something she knew she wasn't ready for.