Parenting Assignment (Miraculous Ladybug)

Chapter 7

Marinette froze, the overwhelming feeling of being caught red-handed flooded through her entire being as her stomach twisted in knots. Although she had only frozen for the briefest of moments, to her it felt like an eternity.

She had been caught with Chat's baby, and by Adrien of all people!

What would he think? Would he find out she was Ladybug?

Her nervousness however was short lived as common sense took over her frantic mind, suddenly giving her the urge to slap herself for being so absurd. In fact, she almost did slap herself, raising her hand halfway to her head before quickly lowering it as she caught sight of Adrien's confused face.

Of course he didn't know she had Chat's Emma. There was no way Adrien would know what Chat's baby looked like, much less that her name was Emma or that she was currently in the care of Ladybug. He had probably seen the doll and instantly assumed it was their Emma.

Marinette couldn't help but stifle a laugh at how ridiculous she had been as she waved him off.

"This isn't Emma."

"Are you sure?" Adrien asked, studying the doll closely. "She looks like Emma...she looks a lot like Emma. Where did you get her?"

Marinette started to panic, she hadn't thought up an excuse as to why she was carrying around a random baby.

"O-of course I'm sure," she stuttered. The name Emma kept catching her off guard. She knew that Adrien was referring to their Emma, but whenever he said the name she couldn't help but associating it with him knowing that it was Chat's Emma.

"This baby..." Marinette paused, trying to quickly come up with an excuse. Suddenly her eyes lit up as though a light bulb had just appeared over her head. "This baby is one of the ones that had been vaporized by the akuma! The parents must have left before the Dreamtime was defeated." Just as an extra precaution to ensure he wouldn't figure anything out, she added, "and it's a boy! I already checked, so it's definitely not Emma. There's only about four different doll designs, so the probability of him looking like Emma is pretty high."

She let out a nervous laugh, hoping Adrien would believe her. When the questioning look on his face changed into one of acceptance, she decided to continue.

"Her-HIS parents will probably soon realize that the akuma attack is over and come back looking for him, so I had decided to keep him safe until they show up."

Adrien nodded. "You're so kind Marinette, he's not even your doll yet you're taking care of him." He flashed Marinette a smile that made her face grow hot with a blush. "I really admire that about you."

Marinette's eyes darted away from his radiating smile, trying to focus on anything so she could continue to have a civil conversation with him without turning into a stuttering mess.

Eyes moving about all over the place, they soon landed on the baby carrier that he wore where Emma was safely tucked inside. That is, where Emma would be safely tucked inside had she actually been there.

"Umm, Adrien?" Marinette asked, completely forgetting about his previous smile. He regarded her curiously and she motioned her finger towards the empty baby carrier that he wore on his back. "Where's Emma?"

Now it was Adrien's turn to grow flustered, and for the first time ever, it was as though they had swapped personalities. Marinette was calm and composed while Adrien fidgeted on the spot, his mind racing back and forth.

"I...she...I..." he stuttered before shouting out the first lie that popped into his mind, "I left her in the library!"

There was a silence between them after that. Marinette stared back at him confused while Adrien mentally called himself a series of downgrading names for saying something so stupid. He obviously couldn't just tell Marinette that Emma was with a girl he only knew the alter ego of and not her true identity, but still, did he have to say the absurd excuse that Plagg had given him!