Chapter Text
Life…was good.
It had been wild in their younger years, but that was all because of Hawkmoth and- well, whatever. Years had passed by and Paris was peaceful after the capture of Lila Rossi.
Adrien and Marinette…? Still going strong!
At a grand seventeen years, they’d made it four years of continuous dating, with no hiccups as of yet!
Every morning, the same routine. Wake up, call each other.
Get ready for school together.
Keep on the line as they went, only hanging up once again together at the school steps.
“Good morning!” Marinette chirped upon seeing her dearest love, rushing into his arms for a hug.
“It felt like years without you,” Adrien sighed sadly, gathering his girlfriend into his arms, before placing a soft kiss upon her pink and glossy lips, inhaling the scent of her sugar plum body spray she’d been consistently wearing since she was 10 because Marinette’s mother had once told her ‘boys like girls who smell nice’.
“It’s only a month away until your birthday!” Marinette said, hand in hand with Adrien as they entered. “People always say that the 18th is the most important birthday, are you ready?”
“Ready or not, here I come,” Adrien said, head tilting slightly. “And…it’s on Valentines Day too…if I have a party, would anyone even want to attend?”
“We all went last year!” Marinette reminded him. “All our parents were basically shoving us out the door for some reason. I found it funny, honestly.”
They entered class, and the day proceeded as normal.
-
“How’s Sublime?” Alya asked, curious as she sat in Nino’s lap during lunch. “Isnt her birthday soon, too?”
“She’s still in the hospital,” Marinette reported. As the class president, she kept informed on her classmates! “Her birthday was a couple days ago, she had it in the hospital.”
“Still gaining weight?” Adrien asked, nibbling on the cucumber sandwich Marinette was feeding him. “She’s had to quit running, and says that she can’t even take a full breath anymore because of the tumor.”
Marinette’s brows furrowed. “That’s awful…When are they getting that tumor out?!”
“They said the best time would be in like, a month.” Adrien recalled. “But I don’t get why they can’t do it now…I can’t imagine spending my 18th birthday in a hospital bed…”
Marinette frowned. “Mmn…We should go visit her! I’ll bring a birthday cake from the bakery!”
“We should get the others to come, I’d bet she’d enjoy some friendly faces.” Adrien said, smiling. “You’re so kind, Marinette. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”
“Awe, I love you too, Adrien.” Marinette smiled, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her boyfriends’ lips.
-
Adrien, Marinette, Alya, Nino and Sabrina arrived at the…’Maternity Ward’, as directed by the receptionist when asking for Sublime.
“What’s ‘Maternity’ mean anyway?” Nino asked, curious as they passed over the sign.
“I think it’s just another way of saying ‘Modernity’, as in like ‘modern’,” Sabrina shrugged. “So it’s probably a state of the art ward!”
“Makes sense,” Alya nodded, pushing past the doors-
Screaming.
Howling, gut-wrenching, agonized screaming.
All five teens jumped, hands flying to their ears, Marinette accidentally dropping the cake as echoing howls shrieked throughout the ward.
A nurse flew in from seemingly nowhere, blocking their way even though they hadn't taken another step from the threshold. “How old are you all?!” she demanded.
“Uh, sevent-” Alya said, startled by her sudden appearance and the screams.
“Get out, you’re not allowed to be here,” the nurse said, pointing out the door they’d just come though. “18+, only!! No minors, read the sign!!”
The doors slid shut with the ruined Dupain-Cheng bakery cake on the other side, leaving the five friends immensely confused as the (apparently) soundproof doors slid shut again, silencing whoever was screaming from the depths of their soul.
There, on the Modernity Ward’s door, was a big ‘No Under 18’s allowed’ they hadn’t bothered to read coming in.
Left with no recourse, they had no choice but to just…go home.
-
“This is so unfair!!” Marinette groused out, stomping her foot in indignation.
“There is a very good reason you weren’t allowed into the Maternity Ward,” Luka intoned, plucking his guitar idly as the flock of 17 year olds invaded his mothers’ boat. “Sorry guys, but Sublime probably won’t be able to speak to any of you for a while. Especially if her 18th was recent…”
“Why?” Alya demanded, exasperated. “What’s so magical about turning 18 that makes it so we can suddenly go into the Modernity-”
“Maternity-” Juleka corrected, elbow on the table, cheek leaned up against her fist. “Maternity Ward, guys. And…it just is. I can’t explain to you how you change, but…you just do.”
A moment of heavy quiet hung in the air, those still under the age of majority looking around at each other, nervous.
Adrien in particular…His was coming up soon, followed by Nino next month in March, then Marinette in July, and Alya , their youngest, whose birthday was in November.
Seeing the looks on their faces, Juleka sighed. “…Look, Luka and I, we’ll go. We’re 18, so it’ll be fine. We’ll check up on her and give her your well wishes, okay?”
“The sooner we all get to 18…” Nino sighed, rubbing his head. “I can’t wait to be 18 and finally be an adult. Figure out what it is that makes you all…like this.”
“That’s…a long, hard conversation,” Juleka sighed. “You should ask your parents.”
“I don’t have any!” Adrien reminded her. “And I’m almost 18 already! What am I supposed to expect here, guys?”
The pair of twins glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes. “...I’ll give you the rundown Mom gave us when it was our birthday,” Luka promised him. “Just meet with me about…three hours before your birthday.”
“It’ll help if you know the exact time of your birth…” Juleka added.
“11:10 at night,” Adrien announced confidently. “My mom was disappointed I didn’t stay in until 11:11 but was glad I was born on the 14th, and never let me forget that on every birthday.”
“Then meet with me at 9, should be after your party,” Luka shrugged, standing and sliding the guitar he was playing back into his case. “Anyway, I gotta haul ass. Signing those leasing papers today.”
“Oooh, look who's a big boy, moving out.” Juleka snickered with a slight roll of her eyes. “Gonna call up Cammie?”
“Don’t be jealous cause your girlfriend is 17,” Luka snorted, closing the case.
“...Yeahhh, I am a little jealous,” Juleka sighed.
“Why don’t you just move in together?” Sabrina asked, curious.
“It’s a one bedroom,” Luka said, as if that would explain everything.
“You’ve shared a bedroom for this long, and it’d be cheaper?” Alya reasoned. It made sense!
“And you can invite Rose and Luka’s girlfriend to hang out,” Nino added.
“Cammie isn’t a girlfriend,” Both Luka and Juleka said quickly.
“Really, running, gonna be late,” Luka said urgently, leaving behind the gathered schoolmates as he jogged off the Liberty. “Later!”
Juleka just sighed. “Byeeee…Lucky bitch…”
“...What’s a girl dog have to do with Luka?” Marinette asked.
Juleka just smiled, looking tired. “Nothing, Marinette….When’s your 18th again?”
“July 7th.”