Marius placed his baby girl in the little basket beside the bed and smiled, she was such a gorgeous little thing. He looked at the clock and decided it was time to wake the other children and introduce them to their new sister.

Marius went to the girls bedroom first to wake them; they were still fast asleep when he let himself into the room. He went over to his eldest daughter first and woke her up with a kiss on the forehead.

"Marie" he whispered to her, "Time to wake up". The girl awoke slowly and he went to wake Isabel next, he took them over to the wash basin in the side of the room so they could wash their hands and faces. He took the girls by the hand and led them out of their bedroom.

"Be very quiet girls, and come with me" he said as he led them towards the other bedroom where his three boys were still fast asleep. If Marius hadn't been smiling this whole time the girls might have been worried about this unusual morning procedure, but his face and his speech reassured them that something very good was happening.

He woke the two older boys up in the same way as he had the girls and instructed them to wash their faces and hands too; he decided to let Léon sleep a little longer as he was still two years old and could be cranky if he was woken too early.

Jean still had a very concerned look on his face, but Marius tried to reassure him that everything was alright.

"There's nothing to be worried about" Marius said to him, then he addressed all his children "Now, everyone be very quiet and stay here and wait for me, I have a surprise for you all".

Marius left the boys room and went back to his bedroom where Cosette was now fast asleep, the baby was awake and gurgling happily in the basket, Marius went quietly up to her and picked her up gently, hoping that she wouldn't cry and wake Cosette. The dear little thing didn't make a sound though and Marius smiled at her for a little while before he quietly left the room again with the baby in his arms.

The children sat quietly together in the other room wondering what was happening and why they had all been gathered like this, except for Jean who sat separate from the others knowing full well what the surprise was, he still had a look of concern on his face when his papa came back into the room.

Marie gasped and covered her mouth when she saw the tiny bundle in his arms, and Marius smiled at them all and walked over to them.

"Don't make too much noise now children, and say hello to your new little sister" He said smiling widely; he knelt down so he could be at the childrens level and they all took a look at the little baby.

Courfeyrac, the mischievous little thing that he was, paid no heed to his fathers words and exclaimed "She's tiny!" a little bit louder than Marius would have liked.

He glared at his son, but the baby wasn't disturbed by him at all so he couldn't stay too angry at him for long.

"Who would like to hold her?" he asked his little ones

The girls both raised their hands excitedly, both overjoyed that they had a new sister to play with; Courfeyrac was unimpressed that the baby was a girl, he was a five-year old boy after all and therefore was uninterested in anything that wasn't also a boy like him. Jean was still sitting away from his siblings looking detached.

"Me Papa!" said Marie in an excited whisper, "Oh please may I hold her!"

"Of course you can my dear, you first, then Isabel can hold her" said Marius smiling at his daughters, "Hold out your arms like mine"

Marie made a cradle shape with her arms like her fathers and Marius placed the baby gently into them, she gasped at how tiny and delicate she was. Marie just looked down at her new sister and smiled for the longest time, and then she gave the baby a kiss.

"Isabel would you like to hold her now?" Marius asked his five-year old daughter

The young girl nodded her head happily and Marie passed the baby on to her younger sister, Isabel had a lot of practise handling dolls so she knew exactly how to hold the baby, she was naturally maternal and looked so darling holding her baby sister in her arms.

"Can we keep her Papa?" Isabel asked in her own childlike way, she was so young that she hadn't grasped the idea that the baby was a real person and not a doll that could be taken away.

"Of course we can keep her sweetheart" Marius said smiling at his middle daughter, "She belongs to us now. She's a Pontmercy."

Isabel smiled widely and then also gave her baby sister a kiss, they were both totally in love with their sister already and Marius felt so proud of the two of them.

Marius then turned to his eldest son who was still looking glum, "Would you like to hold the baby Jean?" he asked him, but the boy just shook his head.

"She's nothing to be scared of" he said, and he reached out to bring his son closer to the baby.

But the boy wasn't interested in the baby at all; he was still worried about his mother.

"I want to see Mama" he said quietly

Marius sighed; Jean just would not believe him no matter how many times he assured him that Cosette was fine.

"She's sleeping Jean" He told his son firmly "She's alright though, she's just tired".

He brought his son into the circle of his other children and put his arms on the boys shoulders to reassure him, then he addressed all the children.

"We all have to be very quiet today so your mother can rest" he said to them all, at which point Léon awoke in his cot and Marius brought the toddler over to meet his new sister. He was still too young to understand what was going on but Marius felt very proud when his youngest boy gave his new sister a kiss.

Marius then went to find the nanny so she could get the children dressed and take them downstairs for breakfast. Marius took the baby downstairs himself and held her while the other children ate, he was so enraptured by his new daughter that he couldn't take his eyes off her. He felt so protective of this baby already, he could tell that he was going to have a hard time giving this little one up to another man some day, it was a fear he had with all his daughters, but right now he was still her papa and that made him the most important man in his baby's life, and he felt so proud to have that responsibility.

Jean was still not convinced his mother was alright, so after breakfast he waited until his father was distracted and disappeared upstairs to find out once and for all where his mother was. The young boy opened the door to his parents bedroom and let himself in quietly; he saw his mother was asleep and he walked over to her. She was sleeping on her side on one edge of the bed so he stood by her quietly watching her for a few moments and then reached out to touch her hair gently.

He stroked his mothers head tenderly for a few moments. He was such a sweet boy, he just wanted to make sure his mother was alright, it didn't matter how many times his father had assured him, he wasn't going to be satisfied until he had found out for himself.

Just then Cosette stirred and she gently opened her eyes, she was expecting to see Marius there but was instead greeted by her seven-year old son.

"Jean?" she asked quietly and slightly confused "What are you doing?"

Jean just smiled at her for a moment; he was so glad that she was alright.

"I wanted to see if you were alright Mama" he said to her softly

Cosette was touched by the boys concern; she had always been especially fond of her eldest son. When he was born she had told Marius that she was sure the boy looked like her papa, even though she knew it was impossible. That's why she had insisted they name him Jean. He was such a kind and gentle boy though and he reminded her of her papa in so many ways.

"Come here" she said sleepily to her son. She reached out one of her arms to pull him towards her so she could give him a hug; she kissed his hair and held him close to her. "My darling boy" she said softly, "Do you like your new sister?"

"No" he said firmly, with his head buried in his mothers blonde hair

Cosette felt slightly disappointed when he said that he didn't like the new baby, she was such a beautiful little thing, how could anyone not like her?

"Why not?" she asked him curiously

Jean pulled away from his mother and looked at her seriously for a moment

"Because she hurt you". He said sadly

Cosette just smiled at him for a moment, before she filled him in on some information he didn't know yet.

"Oh Jean" she said quietly "You hurt me too when you were born, all babies do. Don't hate your little sister for that, she's going to need her big brother to love her, just like I love you."

Jean smiled at his mother again; he was feeling a lot better about the whole situation now that he was certain that his mother was feeling alright again. Meanwhile Marius had noticed that Jean wasn't with his siblings and knew exactly where he had gotten to and he was not happy in the slightest.

Just then the bedroom door opened and Marius saw his son standing beside his mothers bed and he was livid at the boy for disobeying him.

"JEAN" he said angrily through gritted teeth, "Get away from there right now". But he was too late, Cosette had already been awoken.

He walked over to the bed and pulled Jean away from his mother a bit too roughly for Cosettes liking

"What are you doing?" Marius said angrily to his son, "I told you not to wake your mother".

"Don't Marius, let him be" Cosette said gently to her husband, who then softened and he released his grip on Jean; he looked into his sons eyes that were starting to fill with tears and knew he couldn't stay angry with him for very long.

"I'm sorry Papa, I just wanted to see her" the boy said tearfully.

"It's alright son, say goodbye to your mother and go downstairs" Marius said gently to the boy

Jean kissed his mother gently on the cheek and then turned to leave the room. Before he went Marius gave him a gentle slap on the behind, because even though his heart was in the right place he had still disobeyed his father, and that wasn't allowed in his house.

After Jean had shut the door Cosette looked up at her husband again

"Don't be angry with him Marius, he was just worried about me" She said sleepily.

Marius sat down in the armchair next to the bed and started stroking her hair gently.

"I know he was, but it's not his job to be worried, it's mine." He told her lovingly

Cosette smiled at him, he was such a good husband she thought happily to herself.

"Where's the baby?" she asked him when she suddenly realised she wasn't in the basket by the bed.

"She's with the nanny and the other children, she's alright Cosette don't worry" he told her "Just wait until you see the girls with her my darling, they already love her". He added smiling widely

Cosette smiled again and then happily closed her eyes.

Marius leaned over and kissed her hair, "Go back to sleep" he said to her quietly. And after Cosette was asleep again Marius went back downstairs to find Jean.

"I'm sorry I got angry with you, your mother just needs her rest that's all" he said to the boy and then he gave him a hug.

"Are you ready to hold your baby sister now?" he asked him and Jean nodded his head enthusiastically and smiled.

Marius took Jean to where the nanny was, who then handed the baby over to the young boy. Jean held his little sister in his arms and was instantly in love with her the second he looked into her bright blue eyes, they were exactly like her mother eyes and Jean couldn't help but love her for that.

Jean Pontmercy became a very good big brother to that baby, whom they decided to name Victoire. Throughout his childhood he was always protecting her and looking after her, if any other child ever dared to pick on her or call her a name he would always stand up for his little sister like a proper little gentleman should. Victoire grew up to be a very beautiful young lady, which only made Jean feel even more protective of her, he never let any man get away with disrespecting her and he never quite felt like any man was good enough for his baby sister.

As it turned out, Victoire was the last baby to join the Pontmercy family, although not for the lack of trying on Marius and Cosettes part. They had once said that they would let God decide how big their family should be and they thought perhaps He had decided that six new Pontmercys was enough for the world.

The End