This is for Julie, who didn't feel well today. Bonus points to whoever can tell me where the animal names came from!
He wakes up to slobber on his face. Rolling over in the bed into the sunlight, he opens his eyes to see Elizabeth, their German shepherd, curled up in his fiancée's usual place. Rolling over, he buries his face in the dog's coat before pulling on a pair of gym shorts, and walks down the hall to Gavroche's room. Seeing the little boy sprawled out with his covers strewn around his little frame, he places a kiss on the boy's head before letting Elizabeth crawl into the bed beside him and shutting the door. Continuing on his way through the apartment, he walks into the living area to see Robespierre the cat curled up on the back of the couch, and music playing via Pandora radio. There is also a heavenly smell coming from the kitchen, and he continues into that room to find Éponine standing over the stove, her long legs appearing from under one of his shirts, only panties underneath, and her hair tied up messily on top of her head. She's singing loudly along with the music, and so she doesn't notice him pouring himself a cup of coffee. Taking a sip, he wraps his arms around her waist and twirls her around a few times, listening to her bell-like laughter ring throughout the apartment. He places her on the counter, standing in front of her as she hooks her ankles around his waist, whispering a "good morning beautiful" into her ear. Gently, he moves a strand of hair behind her ear and kisses her temple, trailing his hands down her back to settle onto her plump bottom. Smirking, she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls his lips to hers, letting the kiss build from soft and sweet to the fire that courses through their veins. He runs a hand up her leg to slip in between the juncture of her thighs. Her eyes shining, she swats him with the spatula, arguing that Gavroche was going to wake up hungry anytime now; a good point- the boy is a bottomless pit.
Smiling, he washes his hands to help her finish breakfast. She places a kiss onto his cheek, singing along softly with the music.
"What's the use in trying? All you get is pain. When I wanted sunshine, I got rain." Her voice is lovely- raspy in all the right places, but smooth and soothing when the song requires.
Smiling down at her, he joins in, flipping a pancake in the process. "Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer, not a trace of doubt in my line."
"I'm in love, oooooh." Their voices blend perfectly, just like the souls they are emitted from. Looking over at Éponine, he watches her bit her lip in concentration as she flips a pancake. Éponine's bright golden eyes pop against her tanned skin, a few freckles sprinkling across her nose and cheeks. She's beautiful like this, simple- there's no seductive smirk, no roaming hands (though those are beautiful, too). She's simply Éponine, his darling firecracker. She catches him looking then, letting a blinding smile grace her features. She leans over to plant a gentle kiss on his lips, trailing the back of her hand down the side of his face. Éponine has this thing with touching faces- it's her way of loving, of remembering. It's one of her many traits that caused him to fall in love.
"Come on, Apollo. Let's go wake up our monkey." Smiling, they walk hand in hand to Gavroche's room.
He opens the door to see Elizabeth curled up at the foot of the bed protectively. Éponine pulls the covers back and crawls in beside Gavroche, brushing the boy's unruly curls away from his forehead. She places a comforting kiss on his cheek before shaking him gently, attempting to wake him up. Groaning, the five year old rolls over, away from his sister, and Éponine curls around him from behind as Enjolras sits in front of the boy, reaching over to rub his back.
"Good morning, monkey." Éponine loves these moments with her baby brother- soon, he'll go to Kindergarten, and he'll grow up on her. The thought of a teenage boy in the house terrifies her, so for now she'll cherish these moments when her sweet boy lets her cuddle him and use his silly nickname. Gavroche scoots to his sister, leaving Enjolras room to curl up in front of him. Gavroche snuggles into his chest, and reaches for Éponine's hand. No words are said between the three as they take in the Saturday morning atmosphere. The music still plays softly from the living room, Elizabeth snores lightly from the foot of the bed, and Robespierre jumps on the bed behind Éponine. Enjolras continues to rub the child's back as Éponine runs her hands through his hair. Their little family is unconventional, but there's more than enough love to fill the holes- Gavroche has stopped having nightmares, Enjolras actually slept now, and Éponine feels safe for the first time in her life. Gently, she pulls Gavroche into her lap as she sits against the headboard. Enjolras wraps his arms around both of them, and the cat wraps around Enjolras's legs, the dog nuzzling Éponine's hand. Enjolras plants a kiss on Gavroche's head, followed by Éponine's. With a rub on both of the animal's heads, they stay like that, Éponine and Enjolras branding the memory into their minds.
Their pancakes have to be heated up when they finally get up an hour later, but it's a minor feat to a beautiful memory.