Summary: The twins turn six

"Oh Marius look, this is perfect for Isabel!" Cosette said happily as she spotted a beautiful doll on a stall. She and Marius were out shopping for birthday presents for their twins. The two of them would be turning six in a matter of day and they wanted to get special presents for them. It was always a special day having two birthdays at once and of course the twins loved the attention they received. They had already found a game of jacks for their son Courfeyrac to play with, and that just left Isabel's present to buy. When Cosette laid eyes on a lovely porcelain doll though she knew she had found the perfect gift.

The market stalls near the river were packed that day with merchants selling all sorts of goods and the toy stall had some lovely things on sale for children. Cosette had always enjoyed looking at dolls ever since she was a little girl; they reminded her of happy times with her father. Of course she had grown out of dolls years ago, but it didn't mean she couldn't still admire them.

"I had a doll like this when I was about Isabels age, my father bought her for me and I loved him for that". Cosette said remembering her doll Catherine from childhood.

"Another doll? Cosette she has plenty of dolls". Marius said with a sigh, he wasn't feeling in the best mood today and shopping for toys wasn't interesting him in the slightest. But he liked the time alone with his wife; it was rare now that they had six children in the house so he was mostly out today with her because of that. The thought of buying another expensive doll for his young daughter wasn't helping his mood in the slightest either. "Why don't we get her something else?" Marius suggested and attempted to lead her away from the stall.

"A girl can never have too many dolls Marius, and Isabel loves them dearly" Cosette told him

The merchant at the toy stand had overheard the two of them as they were having this discussion and decided to add his opinion to the conversation.

"She's a beauty this doll, one of my finest Madame" He said happily. "Only ten francs"

"Ten francs for a doll? That's quite high don't you think?" Marius asked, getting annoyed with this conversation.

"Perhaps, but look at the quality" The merchant said, picking up the doll and examining it closely. "This is fine stitching on the dress, and the hair, look at this hair" He said, pointing at the dolls head, "You'd think she was a real girl with hair this beautiful".

"Marius, for heavens sake, let's get it please. It's for her birthday" Cosette said, placing a hand on Marius's shoulder.

The merchant could tell he still hadn't convinced Marius, so he tried haggling to make a sale.

"I tell you what, since it's a birthday I'll lower it to eight francs Monsieur" The jolly merchant said "Now surely that can't be too high a price for your little ones happiness?"

Marius looked at the doll again, and at Cosettes face, she looked so eager and expectant that it would have been impossible to say no to her.

"Well.…I can't say no to that face. And a child only turns six once I suppose" he said, relenting to his wifes charms. "Eight francs it is then".

"Pleasure doing business with you. Shall I wrap it up for you? No charge". The man asked

"Yes thank you" Marius said, eager to end this conversation.

On the carriage ride home his mood was faring no better, he had been feeling low for a long time now actually, mostly due to his career. He was facing another long trip away for a case in a weeks' time and he wasn't looking forward to it at all. That was the price he had to pay for being a great lawyer, people specifically asked for his services and it kept him quite busy, but it didn't mean he had to like it. He tried to keep his bad moods hidden from his wife and children, but sometimes it was hard to do so. Cosette could always tell when he wasn't feeling like himself, and today's outing had been a clear example of that.

Cosette wasn't usually one to press him when he had things on his mind, but lately his mood had been starting to get to her, and she didn't appreciate him not wanting their daughter to have a lovely present for her birthday.

"Please try and cheer up dear" Cosette said to him in the carriage. But Marius didn't reply to her, instead he sighed again grumpily and folded his arms in front of his chest.

"You're not angry about the doll are you? It wasn't that expensive really, and Isabel will love it I'm sure of it" Cosette said to him but he just replied with another grumpy statement.

"Our children are becoming spoilt Cosette, I'm sure of it". He said bitterly, looking out of the carriage windows. "When I was a boy I was lucky to not get a whack from grandfathers cane on my birthday".

Cosette didn't say anything to that, though she was sure he was exaggerating it she knew he had had quite a lonely childhood and that grandfather hadn't always been the warmest person in the world. It had been a source of misery for him for years and Cosette had always comforted him about it.

"Marius…." She said softly, slipping her hand into his as he unfolded his arms again.

"I'm sorry; I sound like an old grump don't I?" Marius said, breaking himself out of his gloomy mood.

"Well you're not quite old yet, but yes you are in danger of that happening Marius" Cosette said with a smile, which actually managed to raise a smile from him as well.

"Come here" he said, drawing her in close for a kiss.

"Am I forgiven?" he asked afterwards

"Oh definitely" Cosette said coyly

Marius studied her face for a moment, it was practically unchanged since the day he met her.

"Six children later and you haven't changed a bit since I married you" He said with a loving smile "I'm sorry that I don't tell you every day how beautiful you are".

Several days later the twins birthday arrived and the two children were opening their presents in the parlour after breakfast surrounded by the rest of the family.

Courfeyrac was pleased as anything with his jacks game and instantly wanted to play it with his older brother, but it was Isabel who was the most overjoyed when she opened the package containing a beautiful new doll just for her.

"Oh maman she's beautiful! Thank you, it's just what I wanted" The little girl said as she went to give her mother a hug.

"You're welcome sweetheart" Cosette said as she wrapped her arms around her daughter. Although she knew she wasn't the one she should be thanking, Marius was the one who had bought it for her.

"So what will you name her?" Cosette asked her

Isabel looked at her new doll and only had to think for a few seconds as to what to name her

"Um….Catherine" she declared with a smile

Cosette furrowed her brow curiously "Why Catherine?" She asked her six year old, as she remembered the name of her own doll she had when she was a child.

"I don't know" Isabel said honestly "Because it's a pretty name. Don't you think she looks like a Catherine maman?"

"Yes she does" Cosette said with a smile "It's a beautiful name. Happy Birthday sweetheart" And then she hugged her six year old daughter again.

Marius meanwhile was happily watching Courfeyrac playing with his new game over by the fireplace; his mood had improved a lot over the previous few days although he was still not looking forward to having to leave his family again. Still, he thought it was better to enjoy the time he had with them instead of being grumpy about it.

"You should go thank your father" Cosette whispered to Isabel as she was hugging her again "He's the one who wanted you to have a new doll". Although she knew that wasn't true, it was just a little white lie that wouldn't hurt anyone.

Isabel tottered over to her father who greeted her with a smile and then scooped her up so she was sitting on his lap

"Happy Birthday Isabel" Marius said to his daughter

"Thank you for my doll Papa" Isabel said sweetly to her father "I love her, I've named her Catherine".

"Catherine? That's a lovely name sweetheart". Marius said, and as his daughter sat on his lap on her birthday it crossed his mind that eight francs really wasn't too high a price for her happiness.

I feel kind of meh about this chapter...what do you think?