A few hours later and Enjolras feels more impatient than he's ever felt in his life. Practically nothing is happening. Eponine's contractions are still over ten minutes apart, and she says they barely hurt at all. In fact, they're so mild that she's sleeping, which makes sense, considering it's now midnight.
Enjolras, meanwhile, is doing nothing but laying there staring at her back and trying by sheer force of will to make this baby come out. He actually thought this might be it, but now he's not so sure. When Eponine called her midwife earlier, she said it could still be days away or just a few hours.
Enjolras is beginning to think that those women that schedule their deliveries with a c-section or to be induced have the right idea. He craves a plan and order, not to mention a nice sterile hospital with lots of nurses and doctors around to reassure him that everything that is happening is normal. Even though Eponine is cool as a cucumber, his first time father nerves are completely out of control. He's so desperate for reassurance, in fact, that he almost calls Marius, since he's the only other friend who's actually been through this before.
Somehow, though, he manages to fall asleep, and his rest is uneventful until a few hours later when Eponine's shifting around on the mattress wakes him up. He props himself up on an elbow and asks anxiously, "Are you alright?"
She glances at him and smiles, reaching over to gently push his head back to the pillow. "I'm fine. Nothing has changed – in fact I haven't had a single contraction in over an hour, so I guess it was another false alarm."
"Oh. Damn."
Eponine sighs dramatically and throws her arm over her eyes. "I was calm earlier, but now I'm impatient. I really thought that was it. I haven't even minded being pregnant – not like Cosette did – but now I'm huge and this baby is just getting bigger and I'm going to be stuck pushing a freaking eleven pound human out of my vagina. My vagina, Enjolras. It is never gonna look the same down there."
Enjolras snorts. "Ep, it's going to be fine. It goes back to normal after a while...right?"
She glances at him and rolls her eyes. "For your sake, I hope so."
Despite his earlier feelings of anxiety and frustration, Enjolras says reassuringly, "It's okay, Eponine. She'll come when she's ready. Let's just enjoy another night of sleep without having to care for a crying infant."
Eponine pushes herself up and sits on the side of the bed. "Says the man who doesn't have to pee every twenty minutes. Go back to sleep."
Enjolras watches her waddle into the bathroom and grins, closing his eyes and settling back down against his pillows. In a few minutes, he hears Eponine softly padding back to bed, and expects to feel her climb in next to him. It never happens, though, and eventually Enjolras opens his eyes, only to find her standing motionless in the middle of the room, one hand on her stomach and her eyes on the floor.
"Eponine?" He sits up and throws the blankets back, alarmed. "What's wrong?"
"Uh...well, nothing, I guess. But I think my water just broke?"
"You think?"
She lifts her eyes and glares at him for a moment, which he can see even in the dark. "I know, considering there's a puddle on the floor and it's dripping down my leg. Is that graphic enough for you?"
Enjolras stands and practically runs across the room, blinking rapidly at the sudden light as he flips the switch. "What do you need me to do?"
"Get me a towel? There's kind of a lot. And my cell phone, I need to call Susan." Eponine takes the towel from him and cleans herself up, throwing the towel down over the puddle on the floor. "Fuck, that's gross."
Enjolras shrugs and perches on the edge of the bed, taking Eponine's hand as she stands in front of him. He doesn't say anything as she calls Susan, her midwife, but squeezes her hand reassuringly as she answers questions. When Eponine suddenly leans forward and rests her head against the mattress, sucking in a sharp breath, he's a little alarmed, however.
"Sorry, Susan...I'm having a contraction. Ow. Fuck. Fuck. Take the phone." She shoves her cell phone into Enjolras' hand and takes a deep breath, burying her face in the comforter on the bed.
Enjolras takes the phone and listens to the rest of Susan's instructions, promising to call back if they need her and to text to let her know how bad and far apart the contractions get. He hangs up the phone and tosses it aside, reaching over to rub Eponine's back, but not saying anything until she finally turns her head to look at him.
"Okay, so. Apparently it wasn't a false alarm."
"Apparently not. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. That hurt...but hey! It's only gonna get worse, so I'm not going to complain." She smiles faintly and crawls onto the bed, laying on her side. "What now?"
"We wait, I guess..." Enjolras crawls behind her, but sits up, soothingly rubbing her arm. "Just tell me what you want me to do or if you need anything. I'm officially your slave."
"Well I like the sound of that. It's the least I deserve considering I'm about to give you a child."
"And have I told you I appreciate it? And if I could take away all of this pain you're about to go through I would?"
Eponine reaches back and slaps his leg lightly. "Don't remind me of 'all this pain,' you jerk. What did Susan say?"
"Just to text and let her know how long between contractions and she'd head over when it's about six minutes or so. Or when the pain is really bad."
"Okay..." They sit quietly for a few more minutes, Enjolras tracing patterns on Eponine's arm. He's about to turn on the TV to break the silence when Eponine suddenly sits up, leaning forward and resting her weight on her hands. "Well, uh, how long has it been? Because I'm having another one...shit." She grits her teeth and squeezes her eyes shut.
Enjolras glances at the clock. "Seven minutes, give or take. We're making progress."
The next few hours pass mostly the same way, except Eponine starts wandering aimlessly around the house after the first hour. Enjolras trails after her, rubbing her back or shoulders when she asks him to, holding her hand, or just standing back and leaving her alone when that's what she needs. She can't talk anymore when she's in the middle of a contraction, and though he can tell how much it hurts, she's doing a remarkable job of staying calm and managing the pain.
When her contractions are finally only 5 minutes and 30 seconds apart, Enjolras texts Susan to come over. His watch reads 3:56 am, and he stifles a yawn, rubbing his eyes and feeling grateful for the couple hours of sleep they did manage to get earlier.
When Susan arrives, Enjolras breathes a sigh of relief. He was more than a little nervous being here with just the two of them, and at 6 am, when things haven't progressed any farther than before and he's pretty sure his nerves are showing, Eponine looks at him and takes pity.
"Do you want to call Combeferre or someone? Maybe he'll come over to keep you company for a little while. And Musichetta can come be with me."
Enjolras frowns even as he feels a surge of relief at her suggestion, and he practically runs out to the porch to call Combeferre, who he knows will be awake.
What he doesn't expect is for literally every single one of their friends to show up about thirty minutes later, bringing enough coffee and donuts for everyone. (Although it is a Saturday, which means everyone is off work, so he probably should have expected this.) His first impulse is to relegate them all to the backyard to protect Eponine's peace, but she just laughs and squeezes his hand as they start piling into the house, so he agrees to let them stay. (Though privately he gives them a stern warning – if any of them disturb the birth of his daughter, they won't be allowed to hold her. Ever.) He saves Eponine's favorite kind of donuts for her since she's definitely not interested in eating them now, and lets Musichetta stay with Eponine upstairs while he has breakfast with everyone else.
After a quick thirty minute nap, he goes back up to check on Eponine. It's now a little after eight am, which means this really only seriously started about six hours ago, even though it has felt like days.
She's curled up on the bed at the moment, and Musichetta looks like she's in a bit of pain herself, considering her hand is being held hostage by Eponine. "You're doing such a good job, Ep. Seriously, I'm now very much reconsidering this having a baby thing. Don't think I could do this..."
Eponine finally lets out a deep breath and looks seriously at Musichetta. "At this point, 'Chetta, I think I recommend adoption."
Enjolras laughs, but immediately stops when Eponine turns her glare on him. "Sorry," he mumbles. "At least you haven't lost your sense of humor yet." He leans over and kisses her forehead.
Musichetta practically runs out of the room now that he's back and Eponine frowns as she watches her go. "Poor thing. I think this scared her shitless. I don't think she's joking about the never having a baby thing."
"She'll get over it as soon she holds Evangeline for the first time," Enjolras says reassuringly, and Eponine smiles, wrinkling her nose.
"Enj, she's actually going to be here today. We're putting a face to her name. We're going to hold her today," Eponine says quietly. "It's our daughter's birthday."
"Hopefully..."
"Oh my God, don't say that," Eponine moans. "This isn't going to last that much longer, it can't. If she isn't here by midnight tonight I cannot be held responsible for what I'll do."
"You'll get through it. You've been amazing so far."
Four hours later, Enjolras means those words more than ever. Absolutely no man he knows could endure this kind of pain, and just seeing Eponine go through this is torture for him. She can't keep quiet during contractions anymore, and he finds himself gritting his teeth every time a whimper or moan escapes her. He hates that he can't do anything to make it easier, but he hasn't left her side again since breakfast.
It seems like every time he looks at the clock, another hour has gone by, and now he really is worried that Eponine's labor is actually going to last until tomorrow. It's now four in the afternoon, and Eponine is absolutely exhausted. Everyone else is still faithfully waiting downstairs – he guesses they feel like if they've sat there this long, they may as well see it through to the end.
After a particularly painful and long contraction that leaves Eponine almost in tears, she starts to lose it. "Don't try to talk me out of this. Take me to the fucking hospital now. I don't know why I wanted to do this naturally. I want an epidural! Please, please let me go get an epidural, Enjolras." She's clinging to his hand and sounds very unlike herself, and it completely freaks him out.
Enjolras looks at Susan helplessly, but she just shakes her head and says quietly, "A lot of women say that at about this point, Eponine. But honestly, honey, I don't think you really mean it, and I really don't know if it's the smartest idea to move you right now. You're about eight centimeters dilated and I truly don't think it's going to be much longer. Do you guys want a moment to talk? If you decide you really do want to leave, I'll support you."
"Yeah, could you give us a minute, Susan? Thanks." Even though Susan's very hands-off approach has him a bit on edge, so far he's been grateful for the comfort of their own home through this. Enjolras pulls a chair up to the side of the bed, bringing Eponine's hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles gently. "Ep, are you really sure you want to do that? You're doing an amazing job and you're almost there."
"I can't take this anymore! I'm serious. I absolutely can't do this, it's horrible..." Eponine is trying hard not to cry, but her bottom lip is trembling and a few tears roll down her cheeks anyway.
"Ep," Enjolras says helplessly. "I'm so sorry, Eponine." He doesn't even know what he's apologizing for as he wipes her cheeks with his thumbs, leaning over to tenderly kiss her forehead. "Are you really sure? You've wanted to do it this way for months, you had your heart set on it. I don't want you to regret going to the hospital now when you've made it so far."
"It's been 14 hours since my water broke, Enjolras. I read that some hospitals won't even let you go beyond 18 hours. What if we keep waiting, but something is wrong and I need to have a c-section or something?" That thought brings a fresh round of tears to her eyes.
"Susan said she completely disagrees with that," Enjolras points out. "And she also said some hospitals wait a lot longer, and some midwives will wait even longer than that. I don't think we need to worry about that right now, Eponine." Strangely, their roles have flipped – he's now calm enough to try and talk her down, when he really thought it would be the other way around.
"It just hurts," she whimpers and grips his hand tightly as another contraction starts. He murmurs soothingly in her ear, trying to help her through it, and wearily rubs his eyes once it's over. Even though at this point, going to the hospital makes him more nervous than anything, if she's really set on it, he'll do it.
"Are you sure you want to go?" he asks again.
"I don't know," she now admits. "I don't...shit. I don't know what I want to do!"
Enjolras takes a deep breath and smooths her hair back. "Look. I think you can do this here, okay? I know you can. It's at least twenty minutes to the hospital, and that's with me driving like a crazy person. Susan thinks you're close. You don't want to have our baby on the side of the road, do you? I know it probably wouldn't happen, but what if...?" he says practically, and he can see her thinking, so he continues. "And then even if we do make it to the hospital, then we're stuck there for a couple of days. We have nothing packed and ready, because we planned on it happening here at home. Don't you want to sleep in your own bed tonight? With her between us?"
Eponine smiles faintly at that and squeezes his hand. "You really don't want to go, do you? Tables have turned."
"No, I don't," he admits. "And you know I'm just using your own arguments for this home birth against you now. This is how you convinced me in the first place."
"I know..." She's quiet for a minute, then sighs and says firmly, "Okay. I can do this. I'm not going. I want it to be here, with just you. And Susan, obviously."
"And everyone still sitting in our living room."
Eponine actually laughs. "Them, too."
Ten minutes later, Enjolras is beyond grateful that they didn't go anywhere, considering five minutes after their conversation, Eponine started insisting she wanted to get into the birthing tub.
"Do you feel like you need to push?" Susan asks as she helps Eponine get settled into the water.
Eponine just nods, and Enjolras asks anxiously, "Are you going to check her out or anything? Make sure that she's ready?"
"Her body knows what it's doing. If she says she's ready, she probably is. She was very close the last time I checked," Susan says in her infuriatingly calm and zen-like voice. She does use a little portable machine to check the baby's heart, but Enjolras is still kind of appalled at her antiquated methods, even though Eponine doesn't mind.
"Okay then," he mumbles.
His displeasure must show on his face because Eponine says sternly, "Enjolras, be nice, please. Trust me, I really, really...oh, shit. Oh my God, oh my God. This fucking hurts and I hate you and I'm never doing this again!" She lets out a piercing scream that actually makes him cringe, and then yells at him to go get Musichetta because she's supposed to take pictures of this.
Enjolras opens the bedroom door and starts down the hall, only to stop dead in his tracks as he sees everyone gathered on the stairs, clearly trying to listen in. "Seriously, guys?"
"What?" Courfeyrac grins. "We heard some commotion and you haven't updated us in a while. We didn't want to miss the big moment!"
"Right, well. Musichetta, she wants you. And your camera." Enjolras takes a deep breath, rolls his shoulders a few times, and then turns around to go back into the bedroom, steeling himself for what's coming.
"Go get 'em, Tiger!" Grantaire calls after him, and Enjolras rolls his eyes as he shuts the door behind Musichetta.
Eponine is on her knees now, leaning against the edge of the tub, and Enjolras can tell that she's pushing. He kneels in front of her and smoothes her hair back away from her face, watching Susan out of the corner of his eye, who's basically just standing around. He wonders what the hell they're paying her for, at this point. Eponine grabs his arm, digging her nails in so hard they almost break the skin, and he quickly takes her hand, figuring he'd rather have her crush some bones than draw blood.
After a few moments, Eponine lets out a breath and turns to sit on her bottom, letting Enjolras rub her shoulders. He starts when Susan says encouragingly, "You're doing an amazing job, Eponine. I'm starting to see her head when you push. It won't be long now."
Enjolras is a little afraid to look, but when Eponine pushes again, he can't help it. His breath catches in his throat as soon as he sees his first glimpse of the baby's head, filled with dark brown hair. He hears the click of Musichetta's camera and looks up at her, aware of her snigger at the picture she snaps of him. The look on his face must be priceless, but he doesn't even care. Susan's voice is now just a drone in the background, and Enjolras clings as tightly to Eponine's hand as she clings to his as she keeps pushing. With one more guttural scream, the baby's head is completely out, and Eponine reaches down to feel it in awe, near tears already.
"She has so much hair, Ep," Enjolras says wonderingly.
Eponine pushes three more times, with both Enjolras and Musichetta encouraging her, and suddenly, there she is. Eponine reaches down and swiftly pulls Evangeline out of the water, settling her tiny body on her chest like she knows exactly what to do. Evangeline is wrinkly and purple, but by far the most beautiful thing Enjolras has ever seen. Eponine is smiling wider than he's ever seen her smile, and crying at the same time, and Enjolras finds himself wiping his own eyes as Susan hands him a towel and he leans over to wrap it around the baby.
Eponine starts wiping Evangeline off, which makes her start waving her tiny arms in protest. She opens her eyes and lets out a loud wail, making Eponine cry even harder as she makes eye contact with her daughter.
"Oh my God! Enjolras, look at her. Hi, baby," she croons, kissing her forehead and wrapping her more securely in the towel. "Oh my God, we have a baby. I just had a baby!" Eponine is rambling the way she always does when she's deliriously happy, and Enjolras just laughs in sheer joy.
"She's amazing. You're amazing." He presses his lips to Eponine's temple and reaches down to grasp Evangeline's tiny hand, his heart squeezing in his chest when she holds tight to his finger. Even though he's been anticipating this moment for months, reality far exceeds his imagination, and all feels right with the world now that she's in it.
The next hour flies by quickly, and within 90 minutes, they're all down in the living room, including Eponine and the baby, and she's been thoroughly gushed over by all of their friends. Just as expected, since they did give her his grandmother's name, Grantaire is absolutely enamored with Evangeline and says that between he and Enjolras, she's not going to date until they're both dead. Susan also declares her perfectly healthy, and says that for a first time labor, Eponine actually had it pretty easy. When Eponine agrees with her, Enjolras decides to just keep his mouth shut – apparently she's already forgotten the pain that had her begging for an epidural now that there's a baby in her arms.
Enjolras is grateful that their friends don't overstay their welcome now that the baby is here, and they all clear out to give the new family some alone time after only a few minutes of visiting with her. Susan leaves eventually, too, after making sure they have everything they need. Even Enjolras' annoyance with her is gone now that he's holding his daughter, and he gives her his sincere thanks for her help.
Around nine o'clock, the adrenaline from earlier begins to wear off and their exhaustion starts to hit them full force. Evangeline is tightly swaddled between them in bed, sleeping soundly after her first successful nursing session, but both Eponine and Enjolras are fighting sleep.
"I just want to keep staring at her," Eponine whispers. "I can't believe she's here."
"I know." Enjolras reaches out and softly touches Evangeline's cheek, as if to prove to himself that she's real. "I know I already said this, but you were incredible today. Thank you."
"You helped a little bit, I guess," she teases. "And just look at her. We made that!"
Enjolras grins, and then they both gasp as Evangeline lets out her first tiny, adorable yawn, never even opening her eyes.
"I know we're a little biased, but I'm pretty sure she's the most beautiful baby in the world," Enjolras says firmly.
"Oh, definitely. And I also think she's telling us to go to bed. Isn't the rule for new parents that they should be sleeping whenever the baby is?" Eponine sits and carefully picks up Evangeline. She smirks at him and says, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but kiss your daughter goodnight."
Enjolras leans over and kisses both of her cheeks, watching as Eponine puts her in the bassinet and makes sure she's settled before turning the light off and climbing back into bed. She scoots close to him and Enjolras wraps his arm around her tightly.
"Life is never going to be the same, is it?" she asks.
"Definitely not. But I'm glad I'm doing it all with you."
Aw, sappy happy endings.
I'm torn about whether to write a SHORT epilogue or not. We'll see!
Anyway, thanks for reading and for all of the reviews! I truly appreciate it!
I'm going to try and devote all of my attention to Breaking the Rules again, and I have another new story in the works, too. So, hopefully I'll see all of you soon. :)