Summary: Marius bonds with his youngest boy

Marius awoke early one morning to a strange sound, but one that was familiar to him as well. It was a sound he hadn't heard in nearly two years and it took him a moment to realise what it was.

He opened his eyes and looked around his bedroom until he located the source of the noise, it was coming from the corner of their bedroom and when he realised what it was he smiled softly.
Three days ago Cosette had given birth to their fifth child, a son they had named Léon and he was fussing in his little cot in the corner.

Marius sat up gently, not wanting to wake Cosette who was still asleep next to him, and he got out of bed and walked over to the cot.
Léon was lying there flailing his tiny limbs around; he had kicked himself loose from his swaddling and didn't know how to handle the newfound freedom of movement he was suddenly faced with, which was why he was fussing.
Marius smiled at him; the poor little man was so helpless right now. He reached down and wrapped his blanket around him again securely and then just looked at the little boy for a moment. He might have been imagining it, but he could swear that Léon was looking up at him with such a needful stare. He probably wasn't even aware of anything around him yet at just three days old, but the little boy seemed to know who his parents were, and they knew when he needed something and right now he needed his father.

"Come here little one" Marius said quietly as he reached down to pick up his son. He held him safely in his arms and smiled, he was such a gorgeous little baby already.
The novelty of having babies had not worn off yet for Marius, he was still amazed every time Cosette gave birth to another one of his children, it truly was a miracle each time. "Holding a child of your own in your arms is an amazing feeling" He thought to himself "Knowing that you made this baby, knowing that he needs you just as much as you need him, knowing that you'll love this child for the rest of your life, it still feels wonderful every time".

Marius walked around the room for a while with the boy in his arms trying to settle him again; he was still fussing a little. "What's the matter, are you hungry? Mama's not awake yet son. Please don't wake her yet she needs her rest, she's still tired from having you. Aww, I know it's not your fault, you couldn't help it could you?" He asked his baby boy, even though he couldn't answer. "She loves you little one, but you're very demanding on her so please let her sleep a little longer".

Marius continued holding his baby in his arms and talking to him as he walked around the room and bonded with his son. He was glad to have this time alone with his boy, in the beginning most of the work rests on Cosettes shoulders and Marius always seemed to feel like he had nothing to do until they were older. It was a shame, but that's how it was, child raising was very much womans work and fatherhood came later.

"Do you know who I am? I'm your papa. Do you know how many brothers and sisters you have? You have four, and they all love you so much already and so do I son, you're my little man and I love you".

Marius turned around still holding the baby and noticed that Cosette was awake, looking up at him with a bemused expression on her face.

"Ooops, did we wake you?" Marius asked her and Cosette shook her head, sorry that she had interrupted his moment with his son.

"He was fussing so I thought I should try and settle him" Marius explained

"Look at you with the baby in your arms" Cosette said teasingly with a smile on her face "I haven't seen you this happy since Marie was born"

"Oh that's not true Cosette, I've loved all our babies" Marius said, a little hurt.

"I know, you just look adorable holding him like that". Cosette told him, still half asleep.

"I think he's hungry, can you take him?" Marius said, and she nodded and beckoned him over so she could feed Léon.

Marius handed her the baby and went to sit next to her on the bed while she nursed him, he was still amazed at how she could do that and it didn't feel like an intrusion anymore to watch her breastfeed like it did when they had their first baby. He was never really sure what to do when they were parents for the first time, but they had gotten so used to everything now that they were on their fifth child that everything seemed natural to him now.

"Can I tell you something Cosette?" he asked her as she looked down at her baby boy

"Mmm hmm" she nodded to him

"I would have been happy with just four children, after we had the twins I didn't think we would have any more babies, I felt like we were done after having four. But now that León's here I can't believe I ever thought that, I can't believe how much I love him and I can't imagine him not being here now. I feel a bit guilty for having felt like that Cosette, I feel like he was sent to us for a reason, to prove to us that we're not done having children yet. Do you know what I mean?" he asked his wife.

"I do Marius" she told him, knowing exactly how he felt. "And I understand, I thought we were done after four too, but when I realised I was having this little one and I felt him kick inside me for the first time I knew he was very special. I know he wasn't planned, but none of our children were really planned were they? I don't think we're done having children yet, I think this little man proves that Marius. And just because you felt differently about having him at the beginning doesn't mean you don't feel love for him now, I can tell you love him Marius, I can tell just by seeing you with him. So please don't feel guilty about anything, I think it's perfectly natural to feel like that".

Marius looked at his wife for a moment "How can she be so smart all the time?" he wondered "She always knows exactly what to say to make me feel better"

Marius smiled at his wife, "I love you Cosette" he simply said, knowing that was enough to let her know she was right about everything she just said.

"I know" she said, teasing him again "and I love you too".

Marius leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips, and she kissed him back. The he leaned down to kiss his son as well.

"I love you Léon" he said to his son as he kissed his soft head. And the three of them sat together that morning just quietly enjoying each other's company until it was time to wake the other children.

Does anyone else love Léon as much as i do? Send me ideas of chapters you'd like to see. Or not, whatever, i'm not your mother i cant tell you what to do.