"Alya, this is a horrible prank."

The brunette snorted. "Do you know what Nino did to me last year?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Yes, Alya. You've told me seventeen times."

"Then this is not a mean prank."

"I beg to differ."

"What's so wrong about it?"

"This is toying with his emotions."

"And he didn't do that to me last year?"

"I hardly call teasing you with Ladybug and Chat Noir 'playing with your emotions', Alya."

"I ran around—"

"Paris for a full thirteen hours trying to find Chat Noir's hidden shrine to Ladybug and failed." Marinette sighed. "That makes eighteen."

"So what's so wrong with this?"

"It's mean."

"It is not that mean."

"Yes it is, and you know it. It's a horrible prank."

"If I only leave him hanging on for an hour or so?"

Marinette's eyes narrowed.

Alya sighed. "All right, the moment he starts to cry."

"Alya."

"Fine! I'll set up the camera, pull the prank, then tell him before he gets too upset, ok?"

Marinette shook her head. "I still can't believe this is your 'genius prank' you needed my help with."

"Well, I needed you to take the test."

"Can't you just have faked it?"

"If it had worked, I wouldn't have needed you."

Marinette groaned. "I don't want to. I don't like this prank."

"Come on," Alya coaxed. "It's not that bad."

Marinette's brow quirked in silent challenge.

"Think of this as your revenge on Nino for what he did to you and Adrien two months ago."

A blush rose to Marinette's cheeks upon remembering that incident. Nino just had to walk in on that embarrassing scene, one she and Adrien could have easily laughed off and teased each other about. But then Nino had to turn right around and smugly tell everyone a horrendously altered story of the event. She wasn't sure if she'd ever live that down. It wasn't her fault that her wedding ring snagged on fabric every once in a while.

"Fine," Marinette said, taking the little box from Alya's outstretched hand. "I still think this is mean."

"I think he deserves it."

"You know he firmly believes you're pregnant, right? So much so that he's already told Adrien and many of the others."

"Well, that would be his fault for jumping the gun."

"You should have told him already. You're, what, a month in?"

"I was going to tell him a week ago, when I told you, but then I had this idea and it was too perfect to pass up."

"You, Alya Lahiffe, are a horrible wife."

"Revenge to my horrible husband. Now, please, will you just take the test for me?"

Marinette shook her head, yet still marched to the bathroom. "I should have had you find someone else to give you a negative pregnancy test."

"Best friend ever," Alya chimed, her face stretched with an overly enthusiastic smile.

Marinette leveled a flat look at her friend before shutting the bathroom door.

After taking the test, she put it on a wad of toilet paper on the bathroom counter then washed her hands, all while shaking her head at herself in the mirror. "I can't believe I'm doing this," Marinette mumbled to herself, reaching for the towel.

"I guess I shouldn't have agreed," she said to her reflection. "To not have taken part of this crazy sche—"

Marinette froze as her eyes dropped to the bathroom counter. Her heart picked up its pace as she absently replaced the towel on its ring. There was no way. No possible way…was there?

"Um… Alya," Marinette said, her hands behind her back as she walked into the living room.

Alya quirked a brow at her.

"I'm not going to take part of your prank."

"Really?" Alya squeaked, upset. "You backed out on me?"

"Well," she said, pulling the pregnancy test slowly from behind her back. "You said you needed a negative one."

Alya froze, her eyes slowly widening before excitement overtook her. Squealing, she leapt from the couch and rushed to her best friend, who embraced her with open arms. "OMG! Are you serious?!"

A redundant question considering Alya had clearly seen the positive markings on the all-white test. "Apparently."

"And you had no idea?" Alya asked, holding Marinette by the shoulders now, still grinning like a mad woman.

Marinette shook her head. "Not at all. I'm not set for my cycle yet, so I wouldn't have had any indication."

Alya squealed again, embracing Marinette one more time. "OMG, girl! I'm so excited for you!"

As Marinette squeezed Alya tight, she couldn't help but fully agree.

…

Not telling Adrien right away was difficult, but tomorrow, the prank would be executed and Marinette would be able to fully explain herself. But her husband was perceptive. "What's that little grin about?"

She bit her lip as if that could keep the words 'I'm pregnant,' and 'you're going to be a dad' from tumbling out of her mouth. "Well," she finally said, "I got drafted into assisting Alya with a prank against Nino."

A smug, fully-Chat Noir grin grew across his own face. "Is it a good one?"

She shrugged. "I think it's borderline mean."

"Good."

Marinette's eyes widened.

He chuckled. "Serves him right for the crazy rumors he spread after the little wardrobe malfunction a couple months ago. I swear, I'm still trying to sort out all the variations of it. It's enough to make me consider buying you a new ring."

"Don't you dare!" she said, fisting her hand tightly and holding it behind her back. "I love my ring."

He kissed her forehead. "I know you do, bug. But if it catches on your skirt again, I'm taking you shopping for a new one."

"Or, maybe next time, we find a closet that locks?" she weakly suggested.

He chuckled. "Or that. So what's this mean prank Alya's pulling on Nino?"

Marinette shook her head. "You'll hear all about it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, huh?" Adrien repeated, looking at her with his kitty-cat eyes that made it hard to say no.

"Nino's going to need someone to vent to," she evaded. "And I think you'll appreciate it more if you hear it from him."

Adrien looked at her askance before relenting. "You're probably right."

"I usually am," she said, tapping his nose.

…

April fool's day rolled around, and Marinette was dying for an update from Alya. Just something to know that the prank occurred and Nino wasn't filing for divorce. That indication came in the form of her husband's phone going off.

Adrien answered it with a grin, shooting a look at her. "Hey, Nino."

The boys talked for a few minutes, Adrien laughing over the prank and offering very little sympathy.

"No, dude, I don't feel bad for you." Pause. "Think of it as revenge for the time you spread countless rumors on how you caught Marinette and me in the closet." Another pause, followed by an eye-roll from Adrien. "Don't even start, Nino. I already explained to you countless times that Marinette's ring was caught in her skirt." He shook his head. "It was the fact that her skirt did ride up that we were hiding in the closet. Nothing else happened." He glared at the phone. "Did we or did we not disappear for a grand total of four minutes? What else could have happened?"

The way Adrien rolled his eyes again with a smile reappearing on her face told Marinette the boys must have dropped the subject. "Anyway, congratulations again, bro. Be sure to tell Alya that I wholeheartedly approved of her plan, and I'm fairly certain you can thank Marinette for her contribution to that plan as well." Adrien's brow slowly furrowed. "Alix helped her out? Marinette told me she did." A long pause before Adrien nodded in understanding. "Then I'll be sure to harass my wife for refusing to contribute. She's still mad at you for the rumors, too." He chuckled, then told his friend goodbye.

He set the phone on the side table before turning to Marinette lounging on the other side of the couch. "So you didn't help Alya," he implored.

She shook her head. "Cause Alya needed a negative pregnancy test and I wasn't able to provide that for her."

Marinette watched as understanding dawned over Adrien. She laughed as his eyes opened to the size of dinner plates and his jaw nearly hit the ground. "Y…you're…?"

She nodded. "It was a surprise to me, too."

A wide grin splitting his face into two, but then it fell. "No," Adrien said. "It's April Fool's Day. You're pranking me—"

"Adrien." Marinette took his cheeks in his hands, which silenced him. "No April Fool's joke. I nearly chewed out Alya for this little prank. I wouldn't dare do it to you. Not with how much I know it would hurt you if I was lying."

His eyes were glassy, but those unshed tears of disappointment turned to ones of hope. "You're really pregnant?" he asked. "No joke."

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. "We're really going to have a baby?" he asked, a bit breathlessly.

"Unless the pregnancy test was lying, then yes, we're going to have a baby."

IN a second, he squeezed her tightly and emitted a squeal at a pitch women were far more apt to hit. Marinette could only laugh at her husband's antics.

He pressed a firm kiss to her head. "I'm going to have to call Nino back, now."

Marinette chuckled. "I'm pretty sure Alya will tell him. And if not, he'll find out soon enough. I suggest waiting until after today to share the news, though."

"I think that's a pretty good idea."