Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunchback of Notre Dame or anything to do with it. However, I do own Diamanta Devereux, her father, Oliver, Cecile Devereux, Madame Doreen,and Judge Thomas Gautier.

Note: No, the story isn't finished. I, too, am a Clopin fan and refuse to finish the story with such a terrible ending as I have in this piece of it. I don't know how many chapters there will be, but there'll be enough for the story to make all Clopin fans fulfilled.

Yep…this is my pathetic attempt at an outrageously dramatic chapter…no wonder it's so embarrassingly short. Oh well. I hope ya like! Plz review!

Chapter 17

"Was it something I did?" Phoebus asked his wife in a caring voice. She sat on the small mattress that they shared, a glare across her face.

"Don't…talk….to…me," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Was it what Diamanta said to you the other day?"

"Don't bring her into this, Phoebus. Don't try to blame a child," Esmeralda said in the same heartless voice she used with her husband. He paced the wagon.

"She didn't tell me what she said. Esme, what did she say?"

"Don't call me that!" Esmeralda screeched. For the first time in his life, Phoebus feared those green, threatening eyes

"Esmeralda, please. For once, can't you cooperate?" At this point Phoebus knew that what he said was a horrible mistake. Esmeralda burst into tears before a goblet came hurling toward him, narrowly missing his face.

"Cooperate? How can I cooperate when I have an unloving twit for a husband!" Her face disappeared into her hands, which was now dripping with tears. "I told you I didn't want to ever see your face again."

"And go where?"

"Not here!"

"I am your husband!" She had no comment, but wailing an octave higher had the same effect. Phoebus sighed and sat next to her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Liar," she hissed. "You're nothing but a liar."

"I may be a liar," he said, "but I am a liar who is in love with you, and will never stop being in love with you." Despite her kicking and screaming, he wrapped his arms around her and caught her in an embrace so tight that she couldn't break free.

"I hate you!" she screamed through her hands. "I hate you for doing this to me! I'm not ready!" Phoebus stroked her hair.

"Whatever I did, I promise I'll take it back."

"It can't be undone."

"I'm sorry, Esmeralda," he said as he continued to run his fingers through her long thick hair.

"I wanted to do things in my life! I wanted to travel the world! Now we can't!"

"Darling, if you could only explain to me…"

"This is all your fault!" she screamed beating her hands against his chest trying to break free. He loosened his grip and she pulled herself away, her face and his shirt drenched with tears. "How could you do this to me?"

"What did I do?" he shouted. She made several attempts to say something, but the words seemed to be stuck in her throat. He spoke in a soft, loving voice. "Please…let me know what I did." She took a deep breath and said in a voice that was barely a whisper,

"I'm pregnant."

"What?"

"I'm in love with you." Diamanta stared at Clopin in disbelief. She expected to feel as if an angel from heaven came down and kissed her face, but for some reason she felt numb.

"I…I…"

She didn't even remember running out of her own wagon and into the bar the Court of Miracles was hidden under.

"Three shots of cognac," she said to the bartender, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"I believe that is far too much for someone like you. How old are you?"

"Three shots of cognac," she repeated in a harsh tone. He silently obeyed her.

"That'll be—"

"I'm not paying…that is unless you would want everyone to know who your true identity is," she said coldly to him. Diamanta knew that this bartender was sensitive to how he used to live. Just as she imagined, he reddened and cleaned the shot of cognac she had just downed. By her second shot, she could just barely master walking.

Completely drunk, she stumbled down the stairs to the Court of Miracles where Clopin sat waiting for her in her wagon.

"Clopin," she said, her breath reeking of liquor. "Why you here?"

"Dia…are you drunk?" She giggled.

"I swear on drunk's name I'm not Maria." She tripped over her own feet as she neared him. She began to crawl on her hands and knees.

"Dia, what are you doing? Is…is this because of me?"

"I love you!" she said in a cheery voice.

"And you need to be drunk to say that?" Clopin said under his breath in a hurt voice.

"I heard that!" she said with another giggle. "And I do love you!"

"Dia, you're drunk," Clopin said flatly.

"And love you!"

"Dia, you're drunk," Clopin said flatly.

"And you're cute," she said as she played with his goatee.

"Go to sleep. We'll talk in the morning."

"I may be drunk, Clopy," Diamanta said, using the same name others called him when he was younger, "but I'm going to do something I've always wanted to do…even when I wasn't drunk." With two fingers she led his face to hers. Clopin wanted to pull away, but there was something just so inviting in her golden eyes. For a moment they stared into each others eyes.

And without warning, she pulled him closer and pressed her lips against his.