Miraculous: Marinette's Promise (Book Three Of the "Marinette's Baby" Series) ✔

Chapter 21

He was in pain.

Physically and emotionally. He didn't realize that losing someone besides his mom would completely break him. He was too much in fear to find out.

Adrien couldn't remember much of Marinette's funeral. All he could remember was the sound of Sabine's cries, Alya barely able to stand, and the peaceful look on Marinette's face before the casket was closed and she was put six feet under.
Adrien craved to be where she was. He wanted to lay in the ground with her. He wanted to make sure there was room inside for the both of them.
He often found himself just staring at her tombstone. It was like he was stuck in a trance. He was truly in a nightmare he was waiting to wake up from.

Adrien wanted to hide away. He couldn't eat, he had trouble staying asleep, and he found that he had trouble focusing on Louis.
When he wasn't crying, he was hiding under blankets. Because he was up all night screaming, he spent most of his days sleeping.

He didn't feel alive, and most nights he couldn't stop seeing his love leap to her death over and over again. It was traumatic. Adrien tetered on the brink of suicide. It was becoming too much for him.

Adrien couldn't escape solitude. He loved his son, but the grieving was so much worse. He contemplated fusing the miraculous together to bring Marinette back, but he remembered his late fiance explaining to him that if he wishes for a certain thing, he'll lose something else.
Adrien would be back at square one. He'd be choosing between Marinette and something or someone else he loved. He couldn't take that chance in case it was Louis.
Adrien would have gathered his strength to talk to Tikki for her wisdom but she had disappeared back into the miraculous the moment Marinette died.

Either way, he was sent back to the beginning.

He started as nothing, and now he was back to nothing.

"A-as an inspiring fashion designer...one should be able to conjure designs for all body types...."

Adrien's eyes shot open, glancing up at the ceiling of his bedroom at the sound of Marinette's voice in his head. Adrien could see her sitting beside him, sketching maternity designs in their old classroom when he learned that she was pregnant.

" I imagine pregnant women like nice clothing too." She smiled, glancing over at him bashfully.

Adrien froze, his heart aching at the memory.
He closed his eyes, tears stinging his eyes as he turned over in bed. He pulled the blanket over him.

"I wanted to know if you'd like to hang out with me after school today. I'd like to get to know you better."
Adrien frowned at the memory of his own voice. He remembered how conflicted she was when he had offered to take her out.
He remembered each and every cute freckle on her face. The way her bangs caressed her face, and the way she'd look away or look down when he was incredibly bashful around him.

"What?" She asked, her expression remaining confused, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

She was just so cute.

"Do you want to hang out with me after school?"
Adrien's voice rang in his own head at the memory of him having to repeat himself, and he remembered that eager nod she gave him with that sweet smile she always had.

Adrien clutched on to the blankets, his soul aching. He buried his face into the pillows, his tears finally falling freely down his cheeks.

_________________________________________

Alya placed food in front of young Louis.
She sighed, placing her towel to the side. Her eyes glaring down at the letter from the doctor that lay torn open on the dining room table.
The results of the confirmation of a pregnancy from the doctor was bittersweet, but horribly unfortunate.
Two lives were lost that day, and from the looks of it, Alya was sure Adrien was next.
He was not taking care of himself, or Louis. She knew that he was grieving, but he had to pull it together for the one thing he had left of Marinette.
Their only child.