That Night

Chapter 11

Chat's jaw dropped. "You're pregnant?" he nearly shouted. He turned to her, his shoulders swaying eagerly. His eyes were flying back and forth between her face and her stomach. "Who's the dad?" he whispered, hoping to hear that it was him.

She looked at him across her shoulder and said quietly, "it's you".

Chat was freaking out now. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh," he muttered. "I'm going to be a daddy." He looked up at her, "how long has it been?" he thought on this for a moment before asking her, "How far along are you? Can I see your belly?"

She smiled at him gently, "I'm five months along, and yes, you can touch my belly."

His jaw dropped again, and he muttered, "its been five months already?" Ladybug reached out and grabbed his hand. She gently placed it on her stomach. As he settled his hand on her stomach his fingertips tickled her, and she shivered. She closed her eyes as he began to move his hand around a little, trying to find the exact shape of her belly.

She smiled at him as she reached down and lifted her shirt off her stomach and pulled down her skirt a bit so that he could see her stomach without any clothing to obstruct her baby bump. He looked at her for permission before he laid his bare hands on her bare stomach, skin to skin.

Without thinking Chat laid his head on her stomach as a way to hug the baby. He looked up at her guiltily, unsure if she would be ok with his actions. In response to his touch she reached down and began to run her fingers through his hair. They sat like that for many, many minutes, simply enjoying the company and the comforting touch of the other.

Finally Chat broke the silence and asked, "do you know the gender?" He looked up at her with his head still resting on her stomach.

She smiled and caressed his check with the back of her fingers. She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "it's a boy." He grinned so wide it looked like his face was going to crack. "I was thinking of naming him Louis." She tilted her head and gave him a crooked grin.

He sat up in excitement and looked at her with big, twinkling eyes. "A boy" he marveled, innocence reflecting in his face. She nodded eagerly. He hugged her without holding anything back. He nuzzled his head into her neck and squeezed her so tightly she worried her face might start to turn blue, but she just decided to hug him back with equal vigor. "I love the name Louis," he whispered into her ear, "I think it will be perfect for this baby boy."

Chat held her a while longer just breathing in her scent and thinking about how much he loved her. He wanted to always be with her – through think and thin, through hard times and easy, till death do they part. He wouldn't lie, he wanted to marry her, he wanted to be with her in her mask and out of it, and he wanted to be with her as Chat Noir and as Adrien. He just wanted her.

He gently nudged the side of her neck with his nose and then kissed that same spot. She looked down at him in surprise, but then she just gave the slightest shake of her head in acceptance and leaned her head to the side allowing him more access.

He got the message. He kissed all over her neck until he found her sweet spot, where he left a hickey.

She placed her hands on each side of his jaw, gently stroking it as she lifted his face up towards hers. She brought her lips to his in a passionate kiss. She tilted her head to get a better angle as he continued to move his mouth in synch with her hers. Their tongues got involved and soon enough Ladybug was in Chat Noir's lap as they continued, in their own world.

Finally, Ladybug pulled away and laid her head on his chest. He was now cradling her, with one hand supporting her back and the other gently resting on her stomach. He kissed her temple and then spoke. "I want to be a part of this little boy's life." He gently stroked her belly, which was now mostly covered, as her shirt and skirt had settled with all the kissing and moving they had done. "I want to be a part of your life." He looked earnestly into her eyes.

Sadness clouded her eyes. "I want that too Kitty," she reached up to kiss his cheek. "But I don't think that I am ready." She slumped, "I want to be with you, and I want Louis to be with you, but I don't think I can do it yet." She hugged him tightly and explained more. "This baby is going to grow up with me, in my civilian form," she looked at him with serious eyes. "We can be together, the two of us," she gestured between the two of them and their intimate position, "and I will be sure to give you all the news about little Louis as I get it, but you won't be able to be fully ingrained in our lives until we reveal our identities, and I'm not ready for that." She looked down, "I'm sorry."

He used his index finger to nudge her face up. He looked at her with soulful eyes and told her, "I can wait." He slowly kissed her cheek before returning his eyes to hers. "At least I have you now, and whenever you're ready I'll be here." He gently kissed her nose and then pulled her closer in a tight hug.

They stayed like that for a while, just hugging and sharing a kiss occasionally. But eventually Ladybug knew that Marinette had to get home. She needed to get home and tell Alya what had happened, and she had to get to sleep so that she could get up in the morning and make it to school on time.

She gave Chat a lingering kiss and a tight hug before she swung away on her yo-yo. "Goodbye Kitty, I'll see you tomorrow." She blew him another kiss and was gone into the skyline.

- - -

Marinette landed on her balcony quietly and de-transformed, but Alya heard it and jerked up from the light nap she was taking on Marinette's chaise.

"What happened?" She looked intently at her best friend, but Marinette had to laugh as Alya had a chunk of hair stuck to her face and one side of her hair was sticking out at odd angles. She spluttered. "What?" Alya demanded. Marinette just pointed at her friend's hair. Alya realized that she had jumped out of bed with no care for her hair and quickly patted it into place. She resumed her intense stare. "Now tell me how it went. It must have gone well, because it's," she looked at the clock and her eyes bulged. "Its after 3 in the morning!"

Marinette gave her a guilty smile. "We talked," she said vaguely.

"Come on girl, you've got to give me all the details. What exactly did you tell him? How did he react? What did he say? What the plan from here on out?"

Marinette held her hands out to calm down her friend. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you what happened." She told her best friend the story. How they met up after patrol and she got nervous, but he guessed from the sickness she told him about. She told how he was so excited to find out that he was going to be a father and how much he liked the name she had picked out for the baby. Then she shyly told of how they hugged, and kissed, and kissed some more.

"What about this baby's future?"

Marinette cringed. "Well..." She hesitated so Alya gave her an encouraging smile. "He told me that he wanted to be part of little Louis' life, but I told him that I wasn't ready. I want Louis to grow up with Marinette as a mom, not Ladybug, you know; so, I told him I'm not prepared to show him who I am under that mask and that is the next step towards him being a part of my baby's life." She cowered a little, expecting a reprimand from her friend. When she didn't receive one, she continued. "I told him that I just needed time, but I do want him in the baby's life, and he was willing to wait." She smiled, thinking gratefully of the sacrifices Chat was making for her.

"Awwww," Alya gave her best friend a gentle smile. "You made a huge step tonight and I am so proud of you." She gave Marinette a tight squeeze. "If you ask me, it won't be long before you guys trust each other enough to raise this baby together." Alya gave a cheeky grin and the two girls headed to bed arm in arm.