MariChat May day 31: The Baton.
Eight years later, Adrien and Marinette are still going strong, but experiencing some growing pains. Is it time for the heroes to pass their Miraculous on to someone else?

This is it, my last entry in the MariChat May line up. Thanks to everyone for your support along the way, especially seasonofthegeek and Freedom_Shamrock. I hope you like it!

Marinette reclined against the headboard of her luxurious king-sized bed, and considered her latest sketch with a critical eye. It was good, but there was something missing… She nibbled on the end of her pencil, raking her eyes over the sketch, trying to pinpoint the elements that were incomplete.

"Still working, my lady?"

"Yes." She frowned at her work, and then set it aside with a sigh. "No. I'll have to come back to it tomorrow, with fresh eyes."

Her husband took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly, then rounded the bed to begin undressing on the other side. The first thing to go was the tie, which he tugged from his neck and tossed carelessly to the top of his armoire; then he began unbuttoning his dove gray shirt. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she said, smiling wanly.

"It'll get better, right?" He shrugged out of the shirt, and tossed it over the end of the bed. "You're almost to the second trimester."

Her smile turned wistful. "That's what I've heard."

He tossed his pants on top of the shirt, and crawled across the bed in an undershirt and boxer briefs to lie with his head in her lap. "I hate that my kitten is taking so much out of you."

"You worry too much, Chaton," she murmured, combing his hair from his face with her fingers. "This is normal."

"I don't care that it's normal, I still hate to see you so run down." He turned his head and nuzzled against her still-flat belly, his arm sliding around her waist as he moved closer. "I'll be glad when she's out here, so I can help you take care of her."

She laughed, and the happy sound made him smile. "Adrien, if you did any more to help me at this point, I'd never do anything at all."

He hummed, eyeing her speculatively. "So, I've been thinking…"

"Uh oh. Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like where you're going with this?"

He pushed himself up with a sigh. "Because you probably won't."

"Adrien—"

"I've been thinking that maybe it's time we gave up our Miraculous."

"What?"

"Excuse me?"

"What the hell, kid?"

Marinette, Tikki, and Plagg all spoke over one another, expressing their outrage at his suggestion. Adrien looked at the pair of kwamis in consternation. "I thought you two were downstairs?"

"We were. Now we aren't."

"Adrien, you weren't hoping to have this conversation without us, were you?" Tikki eyed him with one tiny eyebrow raised questioningly. "Because that would have been incredibly inconsiderate."

"Ah—no?"

Plagg and Marinette both snorted, but no one challenged him on the lie.

"I'm not giving up my Miraculous, Adrien."

He sighed, rubbing the back of his head in frustration. "I just think that maybe it's time to pass the baton to someone else. Someone—" Marinette's eyebrow arched dangerously, and he winced, but continued on another sigh. "Someone who's not about to become parents."

"I knew it!" Marinette threw back the covers and leapt from the bed to begin pacing furiously. "You knock me up, and suddenly I'm not fit to carry my own purse, much less patrol Paris, is that it?"

"No, Marinette, of course not—"

"And heaven forbid that I actually take out a mugger or something, because I might break a finger nail." She whirled and threw her hands up in mock distress. "The horror!"

"Marinette please, that isn't it at all—"

"I'm pregnant, Adrien. I'm not suddenly an invalid. You will not take Tikki from me, and before you even think about suggesting it, I will not give up being Ladybug!"

"I can't lose you Marinette!" Adrien's hoarse shout had brought the other three to a silent stand-still. "And I can't lose our child," he continued more quietly. "I know you are incredible and strong and brave and as capable now as you've ever been. But what we do is dangerous, even now that Hawk Moth is gone. Paris needs its heroes, but our child needs her parents." He'd crossed the room as he spoke, and here he dropped to his knees in front of her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face to her belly. He continued in a broken whisper. "I know what it's like to grow up without a mother. I know what it's like to have a father shattered by grief. I don't want that for our child."

"Oh, Adrien." She knelt as well, taking his face between her palms, and stroking her thumbs over his cheeks. "Giving up our Miraculous will not guarantee our safety. And you are not your father. If something did happen to me, you would never do to your child what Gabriel did to you."

He leaned his forehead against hers with a tremulous smile, and her hands slid to the back of his neck. "I know, Princess. But you have to admit that the job description of a superhero is more dangerous than that of a fashion designer."

"I know it is. Your concerns are not unfounded." She sat back to look at him, though she didn't pull her hands away. "But Adrien, to give up our Miraculous? To give up Tikki and Plagg?"

"I don't like it either." He looked to where the two kwamis sat cuddled at the end of their bed, and smiled sadly. "But is it fair to keep them, if it means depriving Paris of their protectors?"

Marinette cast stricken eyes to the kwamis, who shared a look between one another and then floated to their Chosen.

"You make a great martyr, kid, but it isn't necessary."

Adrien shook his head. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh Adrien, the two of you were chosen. You are our wielders. Our place is with you."

"But what about—"

Plagg rolled his eyes impatiently. "There are other Miraculous, doll, especially now that the Master has recovered the Peacock and Butterfly. If there's another fuss, then he will activate another pair of Miraculous."

Tikki nodded, smiling encouragingly. "Besides, the police got along well enough without you before you came along, I don't think it's unfair to expect them to go back to managing non-Miraculous criminals on their own. Do you?"

Both heroes gaped at their kwami. "N-no…?"

"It'll take some time for you both to find a new balance, Marinette." Tikki nuzzled against her chosen's cheek, buzzing softly. "But you will find it, just as our holders always have."

"Face it, kid. You're stuck with us." Plagg smirked. "You buy the absolute best Camembert, not that cheap stuff. There's no way I'm giving that up."

The idea of "passing the baton" was my husband's, and the whole Marinette-is-pregnant thing was totally inspired by seasonofthegeek's WIP fic The Trouble With Kittens over on AO3. Thanks guys, for the inspiration! It did end up being more angsty than I'd planned, but sometimes it just goes that way.