MARINETTE

"Adrien?" I say on the phone while sitting on the couch in our living room.

"My lady? Yes? What's wrong?" I hear his frantic voice over the phone.

I know why he's panicking. I never call him at work and when I do, it means that something wrong is happening right now.

But the reason for my call is more of good news. I am now four months pregnant and I now know our baby's gender, we're having a boy!

"Adrien...I'm sorry.." I continue, trying not to laugh.

"Oh my God..." I hear Adrien trying to calm himself down, "Mari, tell me what's wrong-"

"Adrien, I love you." I cut him off.

"My lady, I love you so much. Please tell me what's wrong." He says frantically and his voice is shaky, it's like as if he is going to cry at any moment.

"There's another guy..."

I don't hear any sound on the phone. "Adrien? Hello?"

"You don't love me anymore?" I hear his voice and I hear him sniff. He's crying.

"What? Adrien, I just told you that I love you...but now I love two men." And here I am trying not to laugh at him. Oh, I am loving this.

"Marinette. Are you having a hard time choosing who you should be with? Then don't choose me...because...because.." He stops as he tries to regain his breath, "Because if you really loved me then you wouldn't have even fallen in love with another man..."

Oh no. What have I done.

"Adrien..."

"Where are you, my lady?" He interrupts. Damn, he still calls me his lady even when he thinks that I don't want to be with him anymore.

"I'm at home." I answer.

"Call the man. I want to meet him at home. I'll see you in 10 minutes. I love you." Then he ends the call.

I burst out laughing once he ends the call.

"I'm such a horrible wife!!" I cry out loud as I wipe the tears from my eyes because of laughing. "Oh no. He's going to kill me once he finds out that I was just playing with him."

I look down at my abdomen and I rub it in circles.

"Baby," I whisper at it, "Your daddy is going to know about you...I hope he won't get mad at your mommy..."

The front door opens and Adrien strides in the living room and before I can say anything to him, he forcefully kisses me and I gasp because of the impact. I don't kiss back because of his surprise kiss and now he stops, noticing that I'm not kissing back.

"Why are you not kissing back?" He asks as he cups my cheeks using both hands.

"I-"

"It's because of that man, isn't it?" He interrupts and he rakes his fingers through his hair out of frustration. "I'm not yet enough for you? Because if I was then you wouldn't be cheating on me..." He immediately stands up from the couch and he starts to walk to the stairs that leads to our room.

"Wait!" I immediately stand from the couch and I hug Adrien with his back facing me. "Adrien..."

"Where is the man?" He asks, "I want to see him...did you call him?"

"He's here with us right now..." I say while hugging him. He grabs hold of my arms and pulls them apart, giving him space to turn around to look at me.

"What?" He questions clearly showing his confusion.

I grab his hand and I lead him back to the couch. "Let's sit, Adrien." The both of us sit beside each other on the couch.

"Now where is he?" He asks and I giggle.

"He's sitting with us right now..."

"Marinette, if this is about ghosts then I swear to God that-"

"But he will only become visible in 5 months..." I cut him off. He looks at me and in an instant, he looks at my abdomen. I start to cry once I see Adrien getting teary-eyed.

"I'm pregnant, Adrien..." And that is when I start to cry really hard, "I-I have a little u-us growing inside me..." I smile at him and I sniff. He covers his face with his hands and he turns to face the other side.

"Adrien?" I hear him sniff and his shoulders are shaking as he cries. I hear him whisper incoherent words.

"What? What are you trying to say?" I ask him and he turns back to look at me. His eyes are puffy and red from crying, his nose is also red and he would sniff once in a while. He also has that cute pout of his.

"I thought I lost you..." he whispers and he starts to cry again. "I thought I lost my wife..."

My heart melts upon hearing what he said. I immediately hug him and he leans his head on my left shoulder. I soothingly rub his back and I try to calm him down.

Note to self: Never do that prank again, Marinette.

"No wonder why you look like you gained weight..." He says after a while. Don't worry, I don't feel offended. He lets go of the hug and he caresses my cheek. "I love you, Marinette. I love you and our baby boy..."

I hold his hand that rests on my cheek. "You're not mad?" I ask and he immediately shakes his head.

"Why would I be when I have the greatest gift in the whole entire world?" He exclaims, "Marinette! We're going to be a family!" He says excitedly and laughs, I laugh with him.

Adrien then stops smiling and all of a sudden I'm the only one left smiling and laughing. He was just quiet.

"Adrien, what's wrong?" I ask him as I hold his cheek.

"What if I'm like him?" He asks, "What if I'm like my father..."

"Adrien, you won't be like him."

"But I never felt the love from a father...how would I treat my son? What if he grows up hating me?" He starts to bombard me with questions and I kiss him to shut him up. He kisses back and I pull away.

"Adrien," I say against his lips, "You have me by your side..."

He kisses me and I kiss back, the both of us cherishing this moment since we know that we get to be a family.

"Are you done?" Nathanaël asks.

I'm having my weekly appointment with my therapist and he asked me to think of a memory that involves Adrien and my kids or kid.

"Yes..." I answer and I feel myself getting teary-eyed. Don't cry, Marinette.

"What was the memory all about?" He asks as he peers into my face.

"I was telling Adrien that I was pregnant with our baby."

"Oh." Nathanaël says, "Then-" He gets cut off by a beeping sound. Our time is up. I immediately grab my wallet from my bag and I start to smile.

"You seem happy, Mari." Nathanaël says with a smile, "What's the reason?"

"I found a job, Nath. Now I have money to pay you."

Nathanaël gasps and he grabs my hand and shakes it. "Congratulations, Marinette! Who are you working for?"

Oh. Should I tell him the truth?

"Just some guy..."

"Just some guy? Really?" Nath scoffs. I put my head down, not wanting to feel embarrassed. "You talk like as if that guy's your boyfriend. Spill it, Mari."

"I..." I hesitate at first. Come on, Mari. He wouldn't get mad. "I'm working for Adrien..."

Nathanaël stops what he was doing and he looks at me. "You're working for Adrien? Marinette!" He scolds me and I flinch.

"I know, I know! But, I didn't have any choice!"

"Why him?" Nath asks.

"What?"

"Why him? From all people that can give you a job, it had to be him. Why him?" He asks again and he walks toward me, "Do you know why I gave up my ambition of becoming a world-renowned artist?"

"Why?" I whisper as he goes closer.

"Because..." he hesitates, "because-" The sound of someone knocking on the door stops him. The door opens and Juleka peeks inside.

"Excuse me, Nath." She says, "You're next patient has been waiting for 5 minutes already."

Nathanaël moves a step backward and he massages his temples. "Tell him that he can come in." He instructs and Juleka nods before closing the door.

"We'll continue next week, Marinette." He says looking professional, ready for his next patient. "Good-bye."

I wave my hand and I exit through the door.

---------------------------------------------

Another day of work passed by and I come out from the changing room. I see the rest of the staff huddled in one area. They all turn to look at me and they start to cheer.

"Okay...what's going on?" I shout trying to be heard from all the noise.

"We're all going to get a drink and celebrate! We have our paychecks!!" Karla shouts excitedly, "You're coming with us to celebrate!"

"D-drink?" I stutter.

"Yes! Drink! Let's celebrate with the money we earned!" Karla then leads me to the group and all of us walk happily to a nearby food and drink stall.

"Cheers!!" Everyone raises their glass and they clink with one another. We ordered a lot of food and a lot of alcoholic drinks.

"Ahh..." Karla sighs after she drinks the rice wine. "This is the life..."

"Why do you celebrate when you receive your paycheck? Isn't it normal to have a paycheck every month?" I ask the people around me while I am playing with my drink. I haven't drank yet. I have no plans on doing so, because the last time I drank was when I lost Emma...I don't want to drink to remember that event.

"Mr. Agreste is known for giving more than the minimum wage per month!" One of the staff members, Beezus, says. "Instead of 1000 euros, he gives 1200! That's enough for us to drink and eat!!" She continues and she finishes the liquid in her glass.

"Really?" I ask in disbelief.

"Hell yeah!" Ramona, another staff member shouts, "Go check the envelope where you can find your paycheck."

I open my bag and I grab the envelope. Should I open it? It might be disrespectful to the others...maybe when I reach the apartment.

"Ladies, ladies! And gentlemen, I mean..." Karla slurs, trying to get the attention of all the staff members, "I have juicy gossip for y'all ears!!"

Everyone whispers excitedly to each other, wanting to know what the gossip is all about.

"I heard Mr. Agreste talking to himself today!" Karla says excitedly.

"That's it?"
"What a joke!"
"He talks to himself all the time!"

People started to react even when Karla was just starting with her story.

"Shh!!" Ramona scolds them, "If y'all wanna the story then you gotta shut up!!"

Those who were complaining toned down their voices and Karla thanked Ramona.

"As I was saying, Adrien was talking to himself and I heard that he gave someone twice the amount of our monthly salary!" Karla continues and everyone gasps. I, too, gasped. This is astounding!

"You mean he gave 2400 euros to someone here?!" Beezus exclaims and Karla nods her head.

"Everyone, check your paychecks right now! Let's see who got 2400!" One staff member shouts and all of us fetch for our envelopes.

"I only have 1200."
"Same here..."
"Just 1200!"
"Oh I have- oh wait...it was just a false alarm."

The others started to sulk, knowing that they do not have the double paycheck.

"What about you, Marinette?" Ramona asks and I open my envelope. I take out the piece of paper and I sulk.

"I also only have 1200..."

"Well," Karla starts, "maybe I was just hallucinating when I passed by his office this morning...oh well! At least we have less things to worry about 'cuz we're all equal!!" Karla raises her glass and we all clink our glasses with hers.

The whole night we just talk and laugh, having fun with each other and enjoying each other's company.

------------------------

"Oh my God..." I exclaim as I enter the dim apartment. I look at my watch and it's now quarter to 4 in the morning!

"We must have lost track of time...I'm sleepy..."

I go straight to my room and I change and brush my teeth.

"Thank God, tomorrow is a Sunday..."

I go straight to my bed and I lie down on it. Just as I was about to close my eyes, I remember that I have to get the account number of my paycheck so that I can transfer it to my saving account.

I stand up and I reach for the envelope. I grab it and I sit on my bed.

"Let's see here..." I whisper and I open the envelope, taking out the paycheck. And once I take out my paycheck, another piece of paper that's folded comes out from the envelope and lands on the floor.

"Huh? What's this?" I bend down to pick up the folded piece of paper and I unfold it. I gasp once I read its contents.

It's another paycheck. That says that I have 1200 euros for this month.

I have 2400 euros.

I'm the one who received the doubled amount.

"Oh my God..." I clasp my mouth with my left hand and I'm left in a state of shock.

I see a note stapled to the second paycheck and I read what is written on it-

You have impressed me. Keep on working hard.

-A.A

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Hi :) I'm so busy but I felt that I needed to update for you :) You guys have given me a lot of inspiration to write another chapter :) Did you enjoy this chapter? Anyway, Thank you!

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