Author's Note: This story is part 3 of the 'Half Way' and 'All the Way' series. This story contains major spoilers on the very first page. So if you're interested in reading this, and haven't read the first two parts, I highly recommend going back and reading those first. Otherwise, you'll be completely lost about what is going on.

The first book is 'Half Way.'

The second is 'All the Way.'

If you've already read those two, please enjoy part three!

Major spoilers ahead! You've been warned!

Last chance!

Okay, here we go 😀

"Adrien!" the little girl screamed when she saw him walk through the front door. She quickly ran over and jumped into his arms as he kneeled down to embrace her.

"Annabelle," he said back, giving her a big hug. Then he let go and looked at her. "How's my favorite little lady doing?"

"Good," she replied, smiling at him.

"Alright Anna, let your brother come in the door," Emilie said, walking over to them.

Adrien stood up to give her a hug. "Hi Mom."

"Hi baby. How was the photoshoot?"

"It was fine," he answered before pulling away. "I even got out a little earlier than expected, so I figured that I'd come check on my favorite four year old."

"Four and a half!" she declared, bouncing back and forth on her feet in excitement.

"Oh, my apologies Annabelle! You're getting to be such a big kid."

"And guess what Adrien? I'm going to have a birthday party when I turn five! Mama said that I could."

"Wow," he murmured. "Aren't you lucky? Well, I sure hope that I'm invited to your party."

"Of course you're invited!" Annabelle confirmed.

"It's only five months away," Emilie said to Adrien, smiling. "And she already decided on a theme."

"Oh yeah?" Adrien asked Annabelle. "And what did you pick?"

"Ladybug!" she announced joyfully.

He laughed. "Well as themes go, that's a pretty good one."

"Did you notice the pigtails?" Emilie asked. "She won't wear her hair any other way now. She's suddenly obsessed with Ladybug."

"Obsessed? With Ladybug? Well, she's definitely an Agreste then," Adrien chuckled to her. Then he turned to his sister. "I did notice the pigtails, and you look absolutely beautiful, Annabelle."

She giggled.

"So, it's obvious that you like Ladybug," he continued. "But what about Chat Noir? He's pretty cool too."

A shrug. "He's okay, but Ladybug is so awesome!"

Adrien's face fell slightly. "Just okay? I think he's better than okay. Maybe you should have a Ladybug and Chat Noir theme."

"I want a yo-yo just like Ladybug for my birthday," Annabelle continued, ignoring his suggestion. "I can spin it like this..." She spun her arm around real fast to demonstrate. "And then I can throw it and knock the bad guys out."

"You seriously think that I'm going to let any bad guys get near you?" Adrien teased.

She stared up at him. "It's just for pretend, Adrien."

"Oh," he murmured. "Well that's good. You should leave all the real fighting to the real Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"I will. Ladybug is so awesome," the girl repeated.

Adrien smiled down at her and nodded. "I couldn't agree more."

"Well since you're here, will you be staying for dinner tonight?" Emilie asked him.

"Please stay!" Annabelle said, grabbing his hand. "Please please please?"

He laughed. "How am I supposed to say 'no' to that face?" he replied, winking at her.

She giggled again.

"Alright Anna," Emilie said. "Let's go upstairs and wash up for dinner."

"Okay Mama. Come on Adrien!" With all of her strength she started pulling her brother up the stairs to her bedroom.

"So what does Father think of the birthday party theme?" Adrien asked Emilie as they all went up to the second floor.

She scoffed. "He hasn't even heard about it yet. Work has been crazy lately. Tonight he even had to fill in for Audrey at the Fédération's governing board."

Adrien raised his eyebrows. "Not the board to pick the designers for next season's fashion week though, right?"

She looked at him, surprised that he knew about it. "Actually yes, that one. Why?"

And with a groan, he closed his eyes.

************************************

Marinette took in a deep breath and exhaled. She couldn't remember the last time that she was so unnerved.

After years of hard work, she was finally getting the chance to present her collection to the board of the Fédération de la Houte Couture. This was her chance to go to Paris Fashion Week, which had been a dream of hers since she first started designing.

And now the moment was upon her. After getting the signal from an assistant, Marinette led her team of three models into the room.

Her heart was pounding in her ears as she moved to her spot, keeping her gaze firmly on the floor. Once she was in place, she took a deep breath and looked up at the board.

There were five people sitting there, but her eyes locked on the man in the last seat on the right and wouldn't move.

Gabriel Agreste stared back at her.

The man in the center seat stood up. "Good evening Ms..."

"Dupain-Cheng," she said quickly before clearing her throat. "But you can call me Marinette."

"Well Marinette, my name is Alexander Martin, and today I have Colette Bernard, Bradford Hill, Marie Lavigne and Gabriel Agreste here with me," he explained, gesturing to each of them. "We'll be examining your work today and asking you a few questions about your collection."

Marinette nodded. "It's an honor to meet you all."

The five stood up and made their way to look at the models.

"Audrey Bourgeois nominated you for this, is that correct?" Alexander continued.

"Yes Sir."

"It's a shame that she wasn't able to join us this evening," he explained. "But luckily Gabriel was able to step in at the last minute."

"What is the name of the collection?" Marie asked, examining the first garment.

"Renewal," Marinette answered.

"And you believe that these three pieces are a good representation of your work?"

"Yes Ms Lavigne, I do."

Silence for a minute as they made their way around the models.

"Hmm, this is an interesting design," Gabriel commented, looking at a long white and pink dress with a scalloped neckline.

"Thank you Mr Agreste," she murmured, not daring to make eye contact.

"Very interesting," Colette agreed, walking around the model. But she stopped when her eyes landed on the detail at the waist. "A butterfly?" she asked. "That's a very... bold choice. May I ask what was your inspiration for it?"

Marinette wanted to crawl into a hole and die as she opened her mouth to answer the question. "Hawk Moth."

Surprised faces all around.

"Care to elaborate?" Bradford said after a minute.

She nodded. "Well... butterflies are beautiful, graceful creatures, a symbol of transformation and hope. But then Hawk Moth started using them as a weapon, and suddenly everyone was afraid of them. Their true identities were stolen away and the world viewed them as monsters." She paused before continuing. "And I feel like that happens too often in real life. Some things and some people are seen as monsters when they're really not; they're just misunderstood. So I put a butterfly on this design because I wanted to try and give some of their beauty and elegance back to them."

Silence for a moment before Alexander nodded. "Well, thank you Marinette for showing us these pieces today. We'll let you know our decision by the end of the week."

"Thank you very much for this opportunity," Marinette replied. Then she led her models out of the room.

************************************

"That was an excellent presentation that you gave us today," Gabriel said to Marinette once he found her packing up her designs an hour later.

"Thank you," she replied, her face flushing.

"I didn't realize that I was so inspirational," he quipped.

With a smirk she looked up at him. "Who says that I was talking about you? You're not the only Hawk Moth, you know."

"True. But I'm your favorite one, right?"

A laugh. "Don't worry, you're definitely in my top two." She turned back and put the last design in its bag before zipping it up.

"Should I be concerned about your and Adrien's relationship?" Gabriel continued.

"Our relationship?" she asked, confused.

"Yes, your relationship, Ms Dupain-Cheng."

She groaned. "You know that I couldn't give them my real name. They would have known that I'm your daughter-in-law."

"Do I really embarrass you that much?" he asked with a small smile.

A sigh. "I don't want them to pick me just because I'm married to Adrien."

"They won't. They'll pick you because your designs are the best. You already got my vote."

Her mouth fell open. "Don't you dare! You have to vote against me. I want a fair shot, just like everyone else."

"That will only put you at a disadvantage," he argued. "Then you'll need to get three out of four instead of three out of five. Those are tougher odds to beat."

"If I can't get three out of four then I don't deserve to go to fashion week," Marinette argued back.

"You're too talented not to be there."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I will be extremely upset if you vote for me. So upset, in fact, that I'll have no choice but to stop making desserts when you come over to visit."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes right back in response. "You're getting better with your threats."

"What can I say?" she purred. "I learned from the best."

With no other choice, he finally had to give in. "Alright."

Marinette shook her shoulders in a mini victory dance. "Well since that's settled, are you still coming over for dinner on Saturday?"

"We'll all be there."

"Great. I'll even make some mille feuilles for you."

Gabriel nodded and picked up her designs to carry them outside. "How did Adrien ever get so lucky to find someone like you?"

A big smile. "I have absolutely no idea."

************************************

Adrien's heart skipped a beat when he heard Marinette open their apartment door. Getting up from the couch he quickly went over to her and plastered a fake smile on his face. "Hey Princess," he said hesitantly. "How did it go?"

Tikki flew off as Marinette groaned and put her hands over her face. "Remind me again why I let you convince me to go with the butterfly dress," she mumbled.

Adrien grimaced. "So he was there?"

Her mouth fell open as she lowered her hands. "You knew that he would be there?"

"No, I swear I didn't," he said, moving right up to her. "My mom told me when I stopped by at their place after work."

She exhaled. "Yes he was there," she replied, collapsing against him and resting her head on his chest. "Ugh, I wanted to die when they asked me about the butterfly."

"I'm so sorry," he replied, stroking the back of her hair and then pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

After a few seconds she took in another deep breath and exhaled. "Don't be sorry, my Kitty. I know that you just wanted me to present my best pieces."

"Other than that, do you think that it went okay?"

A small shrug. "I don't know. Your father seems to think that I'll make it, but I'm not too sure. There's a lot of great competition out there."

"Well I know that you're going to make it, Princess. You're so talented."

Marinette pulled back to look at him. "You're too sweet," she whispered before leaning in to kiss him.

Adrien smiled as they broke away. Then he moved one hand and placed it on her lower stomach. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm doing okay. Just a little nauseous. But they say that's a good sign, that I'm having symptoms this time."

"Your doctor's appointment is at eleven tomorrow?"

She nodded, trying to fight back the tears that suddenly wanted to emerge from her eyes. After a few seconds, she had to look away from him. "I'm scared," she admitted with a whisper. "I'm scared that they won't find a heartbeat, just like last time."

He wrapped her back up in a hug. "Everything's going to be okay, Princess. The baby will be fine this time, I have a really good feeling about it."

She nodded into his chest as they held onto each other. A few rogue tears fell down her face before she looked at him again. "Are you sure that you can make it to the appointment? It's fine if you have to work."

Reaching up, he caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Marinette, you know that you're the most important thing in my life. And I'm going to be right there with you."

"Thank you, Kitty," she whispered.