"She's still so beautiful." Grantaire commented quietly.

"Well of course she's still beautiful...She's pregnant, not dying." Courfeyrac replied sarcastically.

"Shut it Courf."

The two ghosts watched as their friend struggled to bend down to pick up a book that had fallen to the ground, her belly was rounded and she sighed exasperated.

"I'm just ready for you to come on then..." Sophie murmured sweetly. English women were never really patient when it came to this kind of discomfort. She was tired all of the time, and cried more than she usually did. But she radiated with a glow that suggested that she might grow to be stronger after her child was born.

Fortunately, for poor Marius, Cosette also happened to be expecting their first child as well. It was a wonderful time in the Pontmercy home. Sophie was not only looking forward to having her body back to herself, but to being back in her own home as well. Marius had hired some people to renovate her apartment for the use of a baby, and so a week after she has her son, she'll be moving home.

"Need any help Soph?" Marius asked, bending over smoothly and picking up the book for her and handed it to her. He grinned and she grimaced. "Ha ha Marius, you can bend over and pick stuff up and I can't..."

"Just have to assert my power somehow. You beautiful ladies have been terrors as of late. " He joked. He noticed her hands on her back and began to escort her to her room. She moaned quietly, so quietly that Marius missed it.

"Can you call a doctor? I...I think..." She asked as a sharp pain gradually radiated from her stomach.

"Of course." Marius said seriously and rushed her back to her room.

"Are you going to stay with her for this?" Courf asked Grantaire. Courfeyrac wasn't even present when Francois was born. Squeamish.

"Of course! I've stuck by her for this long, and Enjolras clearly won't be here. She needs someone, it's not going to be easy."

"Well dear Taire, no one said it would be easy."

~

Baby Edward lifted his tiny fist to Sophie's nose and she smiled tearfully. This was her son, she made this perfect little being, with some help of course. The help was obvious in the infant's face, only two days old, and already he was showing the signs of looking like his father. From his golden hair to his resilience to sleep, he was Enjolras' son, no denying that,

Sophie kissed his little forehead and cradled him to her, humming a lullaby. It was so incredible to her that she could feel so much love for one small person. It was radiant, it was something far more than her love for Enjolras was. She became a mother, she was responsible for someone that wasn't herself. It was a love unrivaled.

"He's beautiful."

"Amazing! I can't believe that came from Enjolras and Sophie...He's so small..."

"I wonder what Enj would say if he knew she named him Edward Antoine Lemieux."

"Oh! Oh! I know! He'd say, 'how terribly English!'" Courfeyrac said with a huge
grin.

Sophie kissed her son again as Cosette waddled into the room. "Oh, can I see him Soph? I would've visited sooner but...I've been terribly ill."

Sophie laughed, remembering how that felt, and nodded. "Be careful then, if you harm even a little hair on his head, remember Cosette, I can use a gun." She warned, surprised by her motherly protectiveness.

Cosette giggled. "I'd never." Sophie handed her Edward, sleeping finally, to her very carefully.

"He looks just like-" Cosette stopped herself. She looked over at Sophie, whose eyes glazed up with tears. "Like you." She finished weakly.

"He doesn't. Cosette, you don't have to lie, he's going to look and be exactly like his father. And that's okay, if I live in fear of that thought, I won't be much of a mother."

Cosette nodded and handed her back her child. "Did it hurt?"

Sophie just laughed at Cosette, she laughed so hard that Edward woke up and began his own gurgled version of a laugh. Cosette just sighed.

"Oh dear."