Edited by:

@sleepingintheshadows

@Just_another_star

~.~.~.~.~

Marinette's class sat in eerie silence as they awaited the dreadful the arrival of their teacher. Nobody was looking forward to the new week long assignment they were about to start that day.

Recently their class had been learning about family studies. When Ms. Mendeleiev first mentioned that at the end of the unit they would be partnered up and given the task of taking care of an electronic baby, most of them were fairly excited.

At the time it had seemed like a fun and easy assignment, but their opinions soon changed as they began to learn more about their tasks as temporary parents. Their teacher brought in one of the dolls as a demonstration during their previous class. It only took a couple of seconds before the baby erupted into wails, giving everyone a horrifying glimpse into what the next week would hold.

It was then that they realized just how much work they would need to put into this assignment.

The sound of the door opening caught their attention and all heads anxiously turned to see Ms. Mendeleiev entering the room with a large storage case on wheels, probably containing the babies. Marinette and Alya silently exchanged nervous glances.

"As you all know, today you will be starting your parenting assignment." Ms. Mendeleiev got straight to the point. She opened the storage unit, revealing the rows of babies, then took one out and held it up.

"I will assign you each into pairs and you will be given one doll. For the next week you and your partner will have to act as parents to your child. We have already gone over this, but the dolls are filled with sensors that record how well you care for them; this includes meeting their needs, responding to their cries and whether or not you put them through any danger or abuse."

She put the doll down and held up a clipboard.

"When it comes to parenting, the responsibilities are supposed to be shared by both parents. Simply swapping the baby between one another and not spending any time together to help each other out will only make your job harder. Together you will make your own detailed report about your activities. Now, as for your partners..."

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and crossed her fingers. Normally she would have been calling upon her Ladybug luck to help her be partners with Adrien, but in this case she wanted nothing more than to not be partnered up with Chloe. Ms. Mendeleiev had stated the day before that she wasn't going to pair them up according to gender, meaning she could be put with anyone.

However, what made her even more worried was that their crazy teacher also enjoyed to make her students suffer. She believed that working together with your friends was counterproductive, so whenever they had group projects she purposely paired everyone up with people they don't normally spend time with, matching them based on how well she believes their personalities and working habits go together.

More than once had Marinette been paired up with Chloe over the course of the year. She had been somehow managed to put up with her all of those other times, but this project was something she definitely didn't want to be stuck doing with Chloe, knowing that the blonde wouldn't contribute at all. Heck, she would even take Kim over Chloe. He probably couldn't be trusted to take care of, or even hold a baby, but at least he would do his share of the work.

Ms. Mendeleiev began reading off the names of her pre-planned list of partners, sighs erupting from the class after each pair was listed. Staying true to her beliefs, the partners their teacher chose were quite random. Kim and Sabrina, Max and Ivan, Nino and Juleka, Rose and Mylene, Alix and Nathanael.

"Chloe and..." Marinette's ears perked at the sound of Chloe's name, the anxiety in her stomach growing. Neither Chloe nor herself been paired up yet and there wasn't many students left for her to be with. This was it, it was all over. She was going to be paired up with Chloe and fail this assignment.

"Alya."

What?

"What!?" The shouts of two girls, one on her left and the other across the aisle on her right, mimicked her very thoughts.

Marinette turned to her friend who had stood up from her desk and stared back at the teacher in disbelief.

"I am not being partners with Chloe on this project!" Alya stated.

"I don't want to be partners with you either," Chloe shot at her, then turned to the teacher. "This must be a mistake, I demand to be partnered up with my Adrien! It only makes sense since we're going to be married someday." She crossed her arms and stuck her snotty little nose in the air, refusing to listen to otherwise

"Settle down!" Ms. Mendeleiev snapped at the two girls and glared at them each in turn. "You two will be partners on this assignment regardless of your personal opinions. Maybe this experience will help you to grow closer and stop bickering so much."

"As if!" Alya slammed herself down to her seat with a huff, shooting a sideways glare to Chloe. Marinette gave her a pitying smile to show her friend that she sympathized with her, although she did feel bad for the feeling of happiness that welled in her stomach, but hey, she couldn't help it. She didn't know what she would have done if Chloe had been her partner.

Marinette was flooded with relief and she closed her eyes as her anxious heart slowed down, tuning out the world around her. Breathing deeply and letting out a soft sigh. She wouldn't have to put up with Chloe, it seems her luck didn't fail her this time.

When she reopened her eyes she was met with the sight of the beautiful blonde head in front of her turned in her direction, a smile spread across his perfect face. She felt flustered just from having his gaze on her.

"I'm looking forward to working with you," Adrien said.

Marinette stared back blankly and blinked a few times. What was he talking about? Working together with her? As she made sense of his words it slowly began to dawn on her what he meant. Face burning, she shot her head to the side to look at Alya who simply nodded to confirm her thoughts. She brought her stare back to Adrien who was still smiling, though his eyes showed his confusion at her reaction.

"Y-yes, w-we'll be partners great...uh...great partners!" Her face was probably as red as Nathanael's hair, but she couldn't care less. She was going to be partners with Adrien, she was going to take care of a (robot) baby with Adrien!

Her head was in the clouds and she wasn't focusing on anything as the class shifted around so everyone was sitting beside their partners. One second she was in her desk and the next she was seated beside Adrien in the front row. He looked at her confused as she sat there with a goofy grin on her face, eyes focused on nothing.

Ms. Mendeleiev began moving about the classroom, handing a baby to each pair along with wristbands, sheets to record their details, a little bag of supplies, a holder that strapped the baby onto your back and a baby carrier. When the teacher came around to their desk she handed Adrien a little baby with blonde hair along with their supplies.

Marinette felt giddy just looking at the doll. With its blonde hair and blue eyes it looked just like them! It must be fate telling them to be together!

"What do you want to name him?" Adrien asked her.

Marinette was startled back to reality. "I-I can name him?"

"Sure," he smiled and nodded, "you are the mother after all."

"Louis!" She said without a moment of hesitation, already knowing the name of the son they'll have together in the future.

Adrien wrote the name down on their sheet of paper. "Louis, I like it."

'Louis Agreste,' Marinette mentally squealed. This was a dream come true!

Adrien turned to Marinette with a smile and opened his mouth as if to say something, but was cut off by the clatter of a chair and a bang.

"Oh hell no!"

All heads turned towards Alya, the cause of the disturbance. She was out of her seat with her hands slammed down on the desk in front of her.

"What's your problem?" Chloe asked while checking her nails, not caring in the least about what Alya was mad about.

"What's my problem? Are you serious? We are not naming our baby Barthélémy Félicien Gaspard Bourgeois, that's my problem!"

Chloe shifted her gaze from her nails and glared up at Alya. "It's my Grandfather's name, do you have a problem with it?"

"Yes, I just finished telling you I do!" Alya flung her arms up in the air in exasperation at Chloe's stupidity.

Chloe only blew out a breath of annoyance and proceeded to write her chosen name down on their sheet, causing Alya to grind her teeth together.

"Knowing you," Chloe started, causing Alya to stiffen in annoyance, "you would probably want to give him some low-class commoner's name like Scamp."

"That's a dog's name," Alya growled through her clenched teeth.

Chloe smirked. "Fitting for your son, but not for a Bourgeois."

Alya let out ragged breaths, trying to control herself before her anger exploded and someone, that someone being Chloe, got hurt. She turned her head to the side and caught Marinette's eyes which were giving her a sympathetic look, telling her to remain calm.

Marinette watched as her friend let out a steady exhale of breath. She hoped Alya would be able to survive the week.

Suddenly a piercing wail erupted from beside her and she caught Adrien jump as the baby he was holding began to cry.

He looked at her with a panicked expression. "How do we know what it wants?"

"Uhhhh..." Marinette had no clue, she hadn't ever taken care of a baby before! "W-why don't we just try everything until he stops."

Adrien nodded and looked down at Louis, deciding to go for the quickest solution first. "Hand me a diaper."

Marinette went straight to digging through the bag. They were provided with two diapers, each with a sensor inside of it which could detect when it was replaced. Her hand caught on its soft fabric and she pulled it out. Marinette turned to hand it to Adrien who already had the first diaper undone, but she noticed his shocked facial expression as he stared down at the naked baby.

"We'll have to change the baby's name."

"Huh?"

Confused, she looked over his arms and took in Louis' clear lack of male bits.