A/N: A hot mess.
Unbeta'd. I apologize for any grammatical errors
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"Get dunked on!" Alya exclaimed, slamming her hands on the cafe table.
   "All of you! Twenty gwap right now!" She jutted her finger towards Nino, and Marinette.

Adrien glanced up at the female, completely dumbfounded. He quite enjoyed when the gang joined him on his lunch break.
   It was nice to have familiar faces to see when he was constantly having to dodge Lilas advances.

He shook his head as Alya did a little dance, grabbing the bills Marinette and Nino slapped on to the table.

On second thought, perhaps some alone time would have been nice as well.

"Whats that about?" Adrien asked, eying his friends as Alya folded the bills and slipped them into her back pocket.

"I bet that Marinette wouldn't tell to Nino, and I bet to Marinette that you'd react well to it." Alya chuckled, shaking her hips in another victory dance

Marinette rolled her eyes, cracking a small smile. Nino nudged Adrien who flailed his arms and looked at his friends.

"You made bets at my expense? You guys are probably the worst friends I've ever had." Adrien retorted, scooting his chair away from Nino as Nino wrapped his arms around him.

"No, we love you!!" Nino protested, pressing a kiss to Adrien's cheek to which he playfully batted him away.

"At your expense..." Marinette pouted, looking at her fiance. "I'm the one that's pregnant."

Nino turned to look at her.

"He doesn't get it. So disrespectful, right?" Nino chimed, immediately pushing Adrien away and clinging on to Marinette.

Alya snorted, raising her phone up to snap a photo of the two.
Nino obnoxiously smiled for the photo, which Adrien photobombed.

Marinette yawned. She still had a full day of work to complete. She had to admit she was a little jealous that Adrien got to leave shortly after, but aside from her not getting sleep lately, her life seemed pretty rewarding.

"I'm gonna grab some more tea" the blunette yawned once more, shrugging out of Nino's and Adrien's grip.
     "I'll be back..."
Nino slipped his hand off her shoulder and allowed Marinette to excuse herself.

"Are we hoping for a girl this time?" Alya interjected, looking at both of the boys across from her. "I think it'll be cute for Louis to have a baby sister."

   Adrien smiled at the thought.
To have a little princess who looked just like his queen. He'd adore his Mini Marinette as much as he adored his mini self. Louis was almost a spitting image of himself, and not to make himself feel anymore narcissistic, he did feel within the deepest parts of him that he and Marinette did a great job on him.

Adrien shrugged.
   "It sounds like a good idea... but its not up to me. Whatever happens, happens. Regardless of the gender I'm grateful for a healthy wife and a healthy baby."

Alya glanced over at Nino with a small smile. The girl blushed, she was truly happy for her friend and wished that perhaps, she'd be the one sharing this kind of news with her friends someday

"Technically it is up to you-" Nino interjected, looking at Adrien.

Adrien furrowed his brow. "What?"

"The baby's gender..." Nino clarified. "Technically the female already holds the x chromosome. What ever chromosome the male releases is what determines the gender of the baby. The chromosome is determined the moment the cells are released and received. So your argument is invalid."

Adrien and Alya both glared at Nino blankly.

"Thanks for the science lesson." Adrien deadpanned, throwing his napkin at him.

Alya giggled, shaking her head.
"I think that was probably one of the worst burns ever."

Nino threw his hands up.
"Aw c'mon! I thought it was ironic-" Nino sighed, defending his satirical joke.

"Honey that was awful." Alya cooed, teasing him.

Marinette heard her friends giggling from behind her. A warm smile spread across her face as she began to pour her tea. She was so sleepy.
Marinette was almost too excited to go home.

Marinette hummed, feeling eluded as the day was close to a conclusion. She wanted to go home and cuddle Adrien.

   "So...I hear you're pregnant...." a voice emanated, pulling Marinette out of the trance. Her stomach fell to her knees at the sight of a familiar pair of hazel eyes.

Lila smiled at Marinette, reaching for a cup.  "I hope you don't mind that I overheard..."

Marinette pressed her lips together, suddenly feeling insignificant and small.
   "Oh...uh, pardon our noise..." Marinette replied bashfully. "We don't usually get to catch up like this..."

Lila hummed, turning over to smile at her once more. "Oh, its fine really." She assured, pouring coffee into the cup. "I think its adorable that Adrien is stepping up to be a father to your kids."
   Lila blew on to the liquid in her cup before she placed the lid on.
"So is this another one of Nathan's? Or did you and Luka get a bit too friendly." She rasped, turning over and leaning against the table. "Either way, I'm sure they are beautiful kids."

Marinette froze.
   If she didn't think it was possible for her to feel any smaller than she did, she was wrong.
Marinette felt a sour taste in her mouth as Lila's words sunk in. She didn't think someone could be so mean.

The bluenette furrowed her brow, nearly dropping her teabag into her hot water.

"E-Excuse me?" Marinette asked, looking up at Lila with a flush of embarassment.

"Oh you know what I'm talking about." Lila teased, gazing over at the table where Adrien sat. "Everyone knows you and Nathan were a thing then. People have seen you together at parties, getting close and comfortable. Speculation states that your oldest actually belongs to him.

   Marinette clenched her fists, grinding her teeth.
"I...was pregnant before me and Nathan even officially became friends..." Marinette murmured, hating herself for giving Lila the time of day to explain it.

   Lila pursed her lips and shrugged.
  "Mmmm...I guess rumors are rumours...you know how things are..." Lila piped, taking another sip of her coffee. "Someone sees something, or take a photo and when its leaked...its leaked. People push their own narratives. Isn't that a shame?" Her hazel eyes glanced over to Marinette menacingly.
   "Like....certain magazine industries...its awful isn't it." A small smile crept on to her face.

Marinette frowned, looking down into her drink as if she just wanted to dissapear. She wanted to curl into herself. Lila just had this natural aura to manipulate people.
   "That was you...wasn't it?" Marinette asked, her voice low and shaking. "Who leaked that photo to the tabloids..."

Lila blinked, offering Marinette another smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.
  "Oh no Marinette." She piped. "I'd never...." she bit her lip, her eyes glancing back up to the back of Adrien's head.

   "I mean...if people start saying that you have affairs with your male models behind Adrien's back thats their own narrative...not mine. It might look bad on your unborn child....so perhaps you should talk to Luka..."

Marinette widened her eyes.
Immediately she felt as if her blood went completely cold.

"W-Wait..." Marinette nearly dropped her cup, her heart racing and her mouth going dry.
   "An affair? With Luka? Don't tell me you-"

"I would never....your secret is safe with me." Lila interjected, winking at the flustered bluenette.

Marinette furrowed her brow.
"Secret? Lila, I'm not having an affair. The baby I'm carrying is Adrien's..."

Lila rolled her eyes and turned over. She placed her cup back down on the table and glared at Marinette.

"Face it sweetheart... that last name is too much for you. Everywhere you turn, there will be cameras and people criticizing you. Every corner someone will say something, and at every news outlet your private life will be on every front cover for anyone to see."

Marinette looked down, taking a few steps back.
   "I-I know....b-but--"

"But what would Gabriel think?" Lila asked, her voice sharp as she cut Marinette off. "Do you really think he'd appreciate his son's reject of a wife making a public debacles out of his name and his label?"

Marinette widened her eyes, Lila's words taken to heart.
   She had always had a bit of a worry regarding Gabriel's acceptance and his views of how she would carry on their last name as it did come attached to a whole slew of responsibilities.

"R-reject?" Marinette asked, her frown deepening.

Lila shook her head, continuing.
   "That's right... do you really think Gabriel will accept you? Imagine all the stress you're putting on Adrien..." Lila sighed, crossing her arms.
   "How can you be so selfish?"

Marinette nearly wanted to cry. Her hormones made her completely subjective to Lila's manipulation, but Marinette rejected the urge.
   She wasn't going to cry in front of Lila.

"You know you're small..." a voice emanated from behind Marinette, startling both girls.
"And annoying too..." Nino spoke, standing up behind Marinette. "I thought you were busy...don't you have makeup to play with?"

Marinette immediately looked down, unable to feel any better even as Nino placed a hand on her shoulder.

Lila rolled her eyes, ignoring the snide comments from Nino as she was used it by now.

"Actually...Marinette and I were having a conversation. You'd never understand." She sighed, fiddling with the lid on her cup.

"But you're right..." she sighed. "I do have to get my makeup done. Adrien and I are doing another photoshoot together..." she smiled, glancing back at Marinette.

Marinette looked up at Lila, her eyes solemn.

"See ya." She grinned, flipping her hair and walking away.

Marinette looked down at her cup, she definitely didn't want her tea anymore.
   "Marinette, are you okay?" Nino asked, ducking down to meet her eye level.
  Marinette nodded, feeling tired but for a whole new set of reasons.
"Yeah, I'm okay. She just came to stare at Adrien anyway..." she slumped forward, not caring to repeat the words Lila had swimming in her head.

She swore she was going to cry. She was tired of trying to be tough.

"Are you sure?" Nino asked, lightly rubbing her shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything...."

Marinette grabbed her cup and she nodded.
   "I'm sure...thanks Nino..." Marinette sighed. She placed her hand in her pocket, desperate to feel comfort as Tikki rubbed her head into her palm.

"We should get back before Adrien has to go..." Marinette murmured, brushing past Nino to return to the table.
Nino watched the blunette return to the table and take a seat beside Alya with a grimace.

With a shake of his head, Nino began to stride back to the table.

He sat beside Adrien, keeping his eyes on Marinette who seemed to have trouble focusing on the conversation Alya had started up for them.

"She seems bummed." Nino whispered, nudging Adrien to grab his attention.

Adrien looked over to Nino and then at Marinette.
   "Marinette?" He asked furrowing his brow. "Why? What happened?"

Nino shook his head.
"I'm not sure...but I walked in on her talking to Lila. Now she looks like she's got a lot going on. You think she did something?"

Adrien sighed, looking over at Marinette, his heart aching at seeing her in such a way.
"When it comes to Lila, I'm not surprised by anything. She's called a volture for a reason..."

Nino chuckled, rubbing his chin.
"You should probably talk to her...not here but in the privacy of your own home..." he sat up slightly to look around. "The walls have ears in this place..."

Adrien nodded, watching Marinette as he began to feel super protective of her and their unborn child. He wanted to swaddle Marinette in a nest and keep her away from the world.
  But, thinking realistically, he just wanted to make it up to her and try to help her, build her and support her the best way he can.

"You're not wrong..." Adrien responded.
   "I do have to talk to her, and I have an idea to help her cheer up..."