Hello you guys! So I haven't had a lot of time to write...but against all odds, here's the chapter. Thanks for reading/reviewing/favoriting 3 I'll finish my both stories...so don't fret if I'm taking to long...just have patience with me please...thanks!
With love,
Cami
After Francie and Marius left, Éponine sank into a chair, her legs too weak to keep her standing. She closed her eyes to avoid the forming tears in her eyes and breathed heavily a few times. Helplessly, Gavroche looked at her from the other side of the room.
"You don't have any sort of plans for this weekend, do you?"
Éponine nodded and looked away.
"And you'll simply stay here lamenting over what could've been between you and that douchebag, won't you?" The words left his mouth with such violence that slapped Éponine's face.
"No, don't tell me; I know what your weekend will consist of: vodka, chocolate and weeping until falling asleep, maybe even smoking once again. I know that's what you're thinking 'Ponine."
"I have to work too…" Éponine felt pathetic; her little brother, who she had cared for throughout her entire life, was scolding her.
"Look at me Éponine. I'm twenty-two years old and have already experienced what falling really is. You took me in your arms when I was in my lowest point, broken and desperate, even if you had your own problems. You paid for my schooling when our parents had given up on raising their children. Now look at me, I'm going to graduate from university and I'm fine with you and with Francie. We're fine you know? And now that I see you falling, don't doubt I'll be here for you."
Éponine stood up and hugged him.
"I wasn't wrong with you 'Roche, you're the best."
"I just want to make you proud, sister."
Éponine looked away and fixed her eyes in a family picture with her parents and sister.
"I haven't visited for about a year. I should go today, maybe that'll clear my mind."
"You sure 'Ponine? Are you willingly going to the war zone?" Gavroche's voice changed from the determination to uncertainty; he hated talking about their family.
"I am and you should too, we grew up in said war zone and they're still our parents," she said as she grabbed her car keys.
"Don't party too much with Courf and Jehan this weekend. Remember you have exams on Monday."
Gavroche rolled his eyes as Éponine closed the door.
Their family situation was rather harsh. Her mother got pregnant when she was just a teenager and married her father to avoid rumors. They moved to the outskirts of the city and bought a cheap inn to run. Since Éponine was born, their great obsession was for her to complete high school and become a very successful person with a university diploma.
Then Azelma and Gavroche came along. Their economical situation was stressful; they kept running their humble inn and things never got better, yet they insisted on their plans for their kids. Resignation came with the years; mild happiness when Éponine finished high school and received a complete scholarship for a very prestigious university in Paris, disappointment when Azelma arrived home in tears to tell them she was pregnant, despair when Éponine also arrived weeks later with the news of her fatherless child and absolutely nothing when Gavroche was expelled from school.
Her parents, especially her mother, never saw her with the same eyes since the day she told them about Francie. They had a fight Éponine would never forget. They didn't go to support her in the hospital; a few weeks before they had to live Azelma's chaotic labor and they hadn't recovered yet. They would never call or care about her or Francie and the girl hardly saw them as her grandparents.
She was reflecting upon all of this when her phone rang. It was Combeferre. She answered immediately since she knew he was with Francie and Cosette at the amusement park.
"Hello?"
"Éponine?"
She couldn't identify the voice.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"GIVE ME THAT FUCKING THING!"
"NO!"
"Who is this?" she insisted.
"Éponine, is it you?" the voice said again.
Suddenly, the call ended. Clueless, Éponine concluded that maybe Combeferre's phone had been lost again at the amusement park and her number was the first one they found to return it. She didn't worry too much about it and continued on her way until she found a little inn at a side of the road.
Éponine parked her car and walked to the back door, where their apartments were located. She knocked and instantly regretted it.
"COMING!" A baffled voice she identified as her mother's said from the inside.
The door opened as her mother rambled on about how the front door was open and there was no need to bother them at their private quarters. She then saw Éponine and closed her mouth.
Her mother was even more decrepit than what Éponine remembered. Strands of gray hair now covered her head and black circles drowned her sad eyes. She was skinnier than ever. Her frayed green dress made her appear as though she was fading with time.
Éponine resented the fact that her parents wouldn't let her help them and at the same time felt proud that her daughter didn't have to live that life.
"It's you," her mother said in a bittersweet voice, "come in."
"Hello mother. How's everything?"
Éponine's mother took her to their little kitchen and tacitly invited to sit down in a wooden chair as she washed the dishes.
"Normal."
"How's papa?"
"Working, you know, as always." Madame Thénardier's voice was very casual, as though they had these sorts of conversations every day.
"And Azelma?"
Éponine's mother lifted her head from what she was doing and looked at her very crossly.
"As good as a teenage mother can be."
"MOTHER!" Azelma came into the kitchen with watery eyes.
To Éponine she also seemed faded, even more than her mother. Azelma had given her twins to an adoptive family but couldn't resume her life because she was never too dedicated in school (or anything else that wasn't her boyfriend). She was condemned to cleaning floors and waiting tables at her parent's inn and she seemed to be resigned to her task for she asked Éponine not to help her either.
"Ignore our mother, she's been crankier since I got pictures of the twins. Franz and Ferdinand are so beautiful!" Azelma sighed as she showed a picture to Éponine who smiled sadly.
"Crankier? Crankier you said? Do you want me to jump of happiness, to celebrate with you because you followed my pitiful steps in life? And you, Éponine, even worse because you're alone…excellent way to choose your boyfriends! It seems that the Thénardier breed is condemned to having children at the wrong time," her mother said.
"Mom, shall I remind you that I'm a professional? I graduated from university before having Francie."
"Yet the guy left you to continue with his studies, to be somebody in the real world and you stayed behind, with a mediocre work and a meaningless diploma," her mother retorted.
"Mom, be fair to 'Ponine! She's even helping 'Roche and he's going to graduate from university. Besides, her job's anything but mediocre, she get's well paid and can maintain both 'Roche and her daughter comfortably. I can tell you, I've been at her house," Azelma intervened.
"Nonsense. Whatever...how's Gavroche?" her mother asked.
"He's about to start his exams."
"Well…tell him that I don't wish to have more grandchildren spread all around. I don't want to be grandmother again any time soon."
"You haven't been a grandmother at all," Azelma muttered before leaving to wait more tables at the inn.
Her father arrived a few minutes later. He was the only one at the house who always maintained his optimistic, half drunk smile. Although he couldn't forgive her, he preferred to be less bellicose and more civil; after all, he was still her father.
"Look what the wind brought us!" he said while patting Éponine's head, which made her smile frankly.
"I missed you," Éponine said as they hugged.
"Yeah…well, you finally ventured outside your bourgeois neighborhood," he said.
"Papa! My place is not bourgeois…and you should venture over there more often," Éponine said.
"Tell me, how's the little one?"
"The way you encourage her mistake sickens me," her mother said while cleaning her hands on a ragged towel and moving towards the door.
"What's the matter with my mother?" Éponine asked in a whisper.
"She received a call from 'Parnasse's mother…do you remember 'Parnasse?"
"Yes, I remember him very well, he was my childhood playmate…I remember crying when he left. He promised me he would be my sweetheart forever," Éponine said with a smile on her face due to fond memories.
"Well, your eternal sweetheart is marrying to a girl in Bordeaux. Apparently they met at university. They called a few days ago to ask where you live in order to send you an invitation. You're mother has been upset since then."
"Oh…I see. Poor mom, she's sort of disappointed, isn't she?" Éponine asked biting her lower lip.
"Well…what I always tell her is that you can't undo what's already done…you could be much worse now, you know?"
Madame Thénardier came back to the little quarters and looked at Éponine while crossing her arms.
"Don't you have a daughter to take care of? Or maybe work in your amazing, not-mediocre job?"
Éponine stood up and looked around the place where she was born and raised. Then she headed for the door without saying goodbye.
...
After being tremendously scolded by Grantaire and Combeferre, Enjolras found himself in front of his daughter, who scrutinized him while clutching Cosette's hand. She looked at Cosette questioningly and then moved to be exactly in front of him.
"Hmn…Uncle 'Roche would be very mad if he saw me talking to you. He says you're a very bad person that doesn't deserve my attention," she said while putting her hands on her hips.
"Well…some people commit mistakes honey," Cosette said, "He's actually a very good person and wants to spend the day with you, don't you Enjolras?"
"I do, very much," Enjolras answered and received a warm smile in response.
Francie took his hand and Enjolras felt a certain ache in his heart.
"Don't worry, monsieur, I'll talk with Uncle 'Roche and he'll know how good you are," Francie said and guided him through the amusement park.
After playing around for a while and the four adults winning all sorts of prizes for Francie, they all sat at a table and ate. Francie engaged Enjolras in a conversation about Disney movies.
"How come you've never seen Mulan? Are you from another planet?" She asked in surprise.
"No…I just haven't seen it," he answered in good humor.
"What about The Lion King? Tell me you've seen that movie…" she said and opened her eyes widely when he said no.
"You're friends with my uncles and you have never seen The Lion King? But you definitely saw The Little Mermaid, right?"
He was about to answer when Grantaire whispered something in her ear and she looked at him in awe.
"Apollo?" Francie said.
"What do you mean?" Enjolras asked while glaring at Grantaire.
"Uncle 'Taire told me you're Apollo. I love Greek my-tho-lo-gy. Mom often reads some stories to me...especially about Apollo and Athena," she said while looking at him intently.
When they were a couple, Les Amis would call Enjolras and Éponine Apollo and Athena respectively. He couldn't believe she still maintained that memory alive. Enjolras felt deeply moved by this; Éponine hadn't forgotten about him.
After Enjolras told her about Apollo, Cosette invited Francie to eat ice cream.
"What's your favorite ice cream flavor Monsieur Enjolras?"
"Say cookie dough," Cosette whispered in his ear.
"Cookie dough Francie," Enjolras answered with a grin.
"That's my favorite too!" Francie cheered, "I'm going to bring one for us to share!"
"WHAT? You? Sharing your ice cream with somebody? That's something I've never seen!" Grantaire said while pinching her cheek.
"Oh come on Uncle 'Taire, don't be jealous…besides, I also share it with Uncle Jehan and Uncle Courfeyrac, because they're mes presque pères," she said before running to the ice cream parlor.
Enjolras looked at Combeferre and Grantaire very confused.
"Why's my daughter calling Jehan and Courfeyrac her 'almost fathers'?" He asked with his jaw clenched in jealousy.
"Well…we're going to tell you the story…but then you'll promise not to kill Jehan or Courfeyrac…or both," Grantaire said.
"Continue," was Enjolras' response.
"Well...when Francie was about seven years old, the GNO in where Éponine works offered her a job in Bolivia for about a year. Francie and Gavroche didn't want to leave, of course, but Éponine had to accept or the opportunities at her job would diminish considerably," Combeferre said.
"So our very noble Courfeyrac proposed to Éponine that he would maintain the three of them in case she was fired from her job. Knowing Éponine, you might already know what she answered," Grantaire continued as he saw Enjolras' reddened face.
"But the next day, Jehan arrived with a ring and proposed to her, not because he loved her but because he thought that if they got married he would be obliged to maintain them all and she wouldn't complain. At this point, Éponine was very irritated."
"So the NGO told Éponine that instead of fully leaving Paris for a year she could continue here and go to Bolivia for a week every few months, whenever she was needed. She has travelled all around the world with Francie. They've been to most countries in South America, Canada, through Europe, Russia, some places in Africa…."
"Grantaire, TO THE POINT!" Enjolras said.
"Ah yes…well, so she left with Francie and Gavroche for a week to Bolivia and when they arrived…BAM! She finds Courfeyrac and Jehan living together…as a couple. So our little Francie calls them her 'almost' fathers," Grantaire finished as Enjolras' jaw dropped.
"Wait a minute…they're a couple?" he asked.
"Yes," Combeferre said.
"And Francie knows this?"
"Of course, she sees them almost every day," Grantaire answered.
"How the hell did you explain that to her? What was her reaction?"
"We all sat with her and explained to her that's okay if two men love each other…she laughed and kissed Jehan and Courfeyrac's cheeks," Combeferre said.
"YOU FUCKERS EXPLAINED TO HER THE CONCEPT OF A GAY RELATIONSHIP AND AREN'T ABLE TO EXPLAIN TO HER THAT I'M HER FATHER?"
Just after Enjolras' outburst, Combeferre and Grantaire realized that somebody was watching them and probably hearing the conversation. It was Francie, who had come excitedly with her ice cream to share.
"Fuck." Enjolras said as he walked towards Francie.