"Abby, I'm not ready to be a father" Enjolras said as he paced the floor. Abby looked up from where she sat in his chair "Well you made the baby, I never told you to do it. You brought it onto yourself" she told him simply. He sighed "I suppose..." he trailed off.
Going to his chair, he picked Abby up off it and sat down, lowering her onto his lap. "'Jolras how much longer do we gotta wait? I'm tired and this is taking FOREVER" Abby whined. Enjolras sighed "I don't know how long it'll take. It's just going to take a long time ok?" he asked.
Abby shook her head "Nope, not ok. I'm tired!" she told him, leaning her head on his chest. He sighed "You're gettin to be too big for this you know" he told her. She shook her head "You're just goin soft" she murmured. They sat in silence the rest of the time until Joly came in.
Enjolras sprang from his chair, causing Abby to fall on the floor in a heap "How is she?" he asked. Joly smiled at him "She's perfectly fine, and you have a healthy son" he informed them. Abby rubbed her arm "Ow, 'Jolras!" she whined. Joly went over and picked her up, ruffling her hair.
She huffed "How come it had to be a boy! Boys don't like to play dolls!" she said sadly. Joly laughed "Abby, he's young! You can make him play anything you want" he told her. Enjolras glared at his friend "Don't give her any ideas" he warned.
Finally Joly picked up his bag "Well I'm going home. You may go see them now if you'd like to" he told them before showing himself out. Abby jumped and ran towards the bedroom door "Let's go!" she said. Before she could reach the door Enjolras grabbed her arm "Wait a minute!" he told her.
Abby looked at him confused "What's the matter?" she asked. He swallowed "Well uh, I don't want to go in" he told her. She looked at him funny "What? Why? Don't you want to see your baby?" he asked. Enjolras shook his head "Abby I'm still a student! How can I take care of a child?".
She laughed "Oh 'Jolras. You raised me and look how I turned out!" she told him, smiling as innocently as she could. He looked away "Perfect" he replied sarcastically. Abby took his hand "Here, we'll go in together. Ok? Ready. One, Two, THREE" with that she opened the door and dragged Enjolras in.
Stephanie was propped up in bed, holding a bundle in her arms. She smiled at Enjolras "Enjolras, come over here it won't bite you" she told him. He went over and kissed the top of her head "You're alright?" he asked. She nodded "I'm just fine Enjolras. Now come look at your son" she told him.
Abby stood on her tippy toes and looked at it "If it's a boy why's it pink?" she questioned. Stephanie laughed "That's how all babies look when they're born dear" she told her. She held him up "Would you like to hold him Enjolras?" she asked.
It took him a moment before he nodded and accepted the baby in his arms. "Have you thought of a name?" Stephanie asked him as he examined his baby's face. His eyes were brown, just like his. Abby began tugging on Enjolras's arm and he lowered the baby slightly so she could see.
After a moment she spoke "I think you should name him Gavroche". At this Enjolras stiffened slightly, Stephanie smiled "Gavroche? That's an interesting name" she said, not knowing what the name meant to either Enjolras or Abby.
She nodded "Yes 'Jolras, I think his name should be Gavroche" she assured him. Enjolras tried as hard as he could to speak calmly so his voice wouldn't crack "You're sure? What do you think Stephanie?" he asked. She nodded "I rather like it" she told him.
He took a deep breath, his eyes watering slightly before nodding "Alright, his name is Gavroche then". Abby nodded "I think Gavroche would have liked him" she whispered to Enjolras so Stephanie couldn't hear. Enjolras nodded "I..." he swallowed "I'm sure all the amis would have".
12 year old Abby skipped down the street towards Joly's clinic. He'd finished school at last about a year ago and opened his own clinic to treat patients. She knew Enjolras had an appointment today, so she'd grabbed Gavroche and decided to go meet him there.
"Come on Gavroche" she said, tugging him along down the street "I told you you didn't have to ride Esprit if you kept up with me!" she told him. He walked alongside her as fast as he short legs would take him "Sissy! You have to slow down! I'm too small!" he called.
Suddenly Abby saw the cafe and took Gavroche in, leading him to where Grantaire was sitting contently, drinking like he always had "Nanny!" she called, making him look up. She went over to him "Look! I brought Gavroche to visit" she told him.
Grantaire smiled "Ah lassie, how nice of you to stop by with the lad for a visit. But where you really headed?" he asked in a bit of a drunken slur. She laughed and was about to answer when Gavroche spoke up "We goin to see Foder!" he announced. "Nanny, How much have you had to drink?" she asked, still chuckling as she counted his glasses.
Slightly frustrated, she sighed "Aren't you going out with Rosy tonight?" she asked him, suddenly his eyes cleared and he jumped up "Oh yes! That's right! Nearly forgot she'd said Friday didn't she? I wasn't thinking" he said, beginning to straighten his vest.
Abby laughed "Slow down Nanny, you still have plenty of time. She won't be ready for a couple more hours. You can go home and get, somewhat sober, clean youreslf up, then go out" she told him. He sat back down, before he could finish his wine Abby took the remenents of his glass and downed it herself "No use letting good wine go to waste?" she asked, grinning up at him.
He nodded and smiled "I've taught you good lass" he told her. Gavroche began to tug on Abby's skirts, saying that he wanted his father, but Abby waited for Grantaire to gather his things and they walked out of the cafe together "Nanny, doesn't it ever feel wrong to you to continue drinking in the same cafe our friends were killed in?" she asked him.
Grantaire shrugged "I think they know me well enough that I won't stop drinking just for them. I'm sure they know it's all in good spirits" he told her. Abby smiled "Well, good luck with Rosy" she told him. He smiled, almost dreamily "Ah yes, Rosy's such a good girl to me. She might even be the one" he told her. Abby smiled "Maybe. You've been with her almost 6 months! Must be a record for you!" she told him.
"Ah Lass, she was my record breaker before the end of the first week. I only had one night stands lassie" he admitted. Abby smiled "I'm sure. Well see you later Nanny!" she called over her shoulder as she began walking Gavroche back towards Joly's clinic "Good Bye!" came Nanny's semi slurred reply.
It wasn't long before Abby and Gavroche finally reached the clinic and entered. The receptionist looked up at her and smiled "Why hello Miss Abbigale and Mr. Gavroche! How are you this fine afternoon?" she asked, Abby smiled "Very fine Madame" she replied. Before the receptionist could say anything more Joly and Enjolras walked out from another room.
Enjolras went over and picked up his son as Abby smiled "Well how are you 'Jolras?" she asked. He laughed "Everything is perfectly sound, no need to worry" he told her. Joly smiled and pulled out a lollipop "Oh Enjolras, you can't forget your lollipop!" he called playfully. He rolled his eyes and took it "Awww I wanted the blue one..." he said, pretenting to be sad.
Joly laughed and switched it for a blue one "Better?" he asked, Enjolras nodded "Oh yes Doctor Joly" he answered. Joly called his next patient and said good bye to Enjolras, Gavroche, and Abby before going back to his work. As Abby and Enjolras walked down the street she eyed the lollipop intently.
He glanced down at her "It's mine..." he told her seriously. She looked up at him "But 'Jolras" she said, making her eyes big "I wanna have it" she told him. He looked away, then looked back "Don''t do that with your eyes it doesn't work anymore!" he told her. She blinked and made her eyes teary, and he huffed and gave her the lollipop.
She put it in her mouth and sucked on it contently "Poor 'Jolras has gone soft" she said mockingly. He shoved her playfully "Don't push your luck" he warned. Gavroche clapped his hands and laughed "Yay! Sissy stronger than Foder!" he cheered.
4 Years Later
"You're gonna be 16 today! A lady can you believe it Enjolras?" Grantaire asked as Abby twirled around in her purple gown. Enjolras looked from from his chair and sighed "I'm sure the rest of the amis would have been proud" he replied. Abby went over and hugged him "Come on 'Jolras, today is supposed to be a happy day!" she told him.
He sighed "I know, I was just thinking that's all" he told her. She smiled "Oh, well come on, we have to go now!" she told him, helping him up. Abby and Grantaire began leading Enjolras outside "Come on, Joly and Marius are waiting for us! We can't keep them waiting can we?" she asked.
Enjolras began to slow down as they turned onto a familiar street "Abby, you know how I feel about..." before he could say another word Grantaire shoved him forward and into the cafe. Everyone looked up at Enjolras as he stood there akwardly "Abby, what is this?" he asked. She came into the cafe "For my birthday, I wanted you here" she told him.
Joly and Marius came forward and lead him into the back room where Esprit was tied up next to a small table with some gifts on it, Gavroche sitting on the pony's back. Cosette was sitting at the main table, which had a small cake on it. Abby sat Enjolras down "Don't look so nervous 'Jolras" she told him. He shook his head "I'm not nervous, I just haven't... been here in a long while that's all" he told her.
Marius sat next to Cosette, Joly sat on the other side of Cosette. On the other side of the table Enjolras sat in the middle, with Grantaire and Abby on either side of him. Cosette smiled "Alright Abby, you have to make a wish and blow out the candles" she told him. Abby looked at everyone around "Well I already have everything I want, but I'll make a wish anyway" she said, blowing out the candle.
Everyone cheered briefly, but then dug into the cake like a pack of starved wolves. Once everyone had a slice Joly stood up "Alright, time for presents. Wait a minute, Grantaire, where was" Grantaire pulled a present out from under the table "I got the gift don't worry!" he told him.
Abby opened up Marius and Cosette's gift first and gasped, pulling up a silver chain with a saphire pendent on it "Oh It's so beautiful!" she said, putting it on around her neck "Funny, I was going to buy a necklace later in the week" she admitted. Cosette smiled "See! I told you! Marius wanted to get you a book but I told him you'd much rather have that because Enjolras must have every book ever printed!" she told him.
She laughed "I think he does too! This necklace is so pretty! Thank you!" she told them. Grantaire gave his present next and she pulled off the wrapper which seemed to be endless. Enjolras glared at Grantaire "Nanny! You gave me your favorite wine glass?" she asked him. Grantaire nodded "You're a lady now lass, so I figured you might want that since you already have a taste for wine, having some won't hurt you now" he told her.
"But this one is your favorite!" she told him, he nodded "I know, you deserve it. Besides, Rosy won't let me drink that much anymore so, I have not much use for it" he admitted, almost sadly. She placed it carefully back on the table "Thank you Nanny, I'll make sure to use it well" she told him.
Next she pulled out Joly's present, and once she unwrapped it she couldn't help but laugh "You gave me an entire jar of lollipops?" she asked him. He nodded "Make sure to share with Enjolras and Gavroche though, I know they get grumpy" he told her. Enjolras and Gavroche crossed their arms and pouted "I do not!" they said defensively in unison.
Abby laughed and picked up Enjolras's present, unwrapping it "Oh 'Jolras!" she gasped. He smiled "I know how much you've wanted it, so now it's yours" he told her gently. She picked up a new side-saddle"Now I won't look so silly riding with all my skirts!" she said happily. She ran her hands over the leather "Thank you 'Jolras" she told him.
He grew more serious as he pulled out another present "Stephanie wanted you to have this" he told her gently. She looked at the box before shaking her head "Oh 'Jolras, I don't, I don't know..." she told him. He held it out for her "Take it, it's yours" he told her.
Carefully, she unwrapped the box and pulled out a beautifully knit blanket. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she saw it "Oh 'Jolras" she choked. Gavroche looked up "Hey! I know that! Mother was working on that all last year! I remember when she finished!" he said in shock.
Abby nodded "I remember when she finished too. She was so proud, but she wouldn't let me see it" she said as she hugged it to her chest. Enjolras bowed his head "You know why I don't come in this cafe anymore. Everyone I care about who comes here, dies" he said sadly.
She shook her head "Oh no 'Jolras! That's not true! We're all still here aren't we? Marius, and Joly, and Grantaire! And I'm sure the rest of the Amis are here too! And Stephanie" she told him. Marius swallowed nervously and squeezed Cosette's hand as she buried her face in his shoulder.
Grantaire was fiddling with his hands under the table trying not to cry, while Joly continued to clear his throat. Gavroche looked down and began playing with Esprit's mane "I miss mother" he said after a long moment of silence. Enjolras nodded "Me too", Abby handed him the blanket "You can hold on it if you'd like" she told him. He nodded and took the blanket, hugging it to his chest and trying not to cry.
Suddenly Abby looked up "There's one more present" she said. Everyone looked down as she picked up the box and read the tag "What is this?" she asked quietly. She opened the box and a letter fell out, she picked it up and looked at it, it seemed old like it had been there a long time.
The others in the room had grown silent, Cosette quietly wiped her eyes and began picking up the cake plates and going into the cafe to wash them. Abby slowly opened the letter and stared at the writing for a long time, "Read it, out loud" Joly instructed her softly. She took a deep breath before reading
"Dear Abby, How the years have passed, and how big you've grown. We write this letter now just in case we won't be there with you when you recieve this present. We want you to know just how proud of you we are, and how much we love having you around to fill our average days with smiles and laughter. We decided to wait until you were 16, because we knew you'd be almost grown up by then, we knew you'd appreciate what we're giving you.
Here in this box we've each included something we hope will help you remember us forever. And then we gave you one big present which we all decided upon after much debate. We think you're worthy of it, and we hope you take extra special care of it. The objects in the box should be obvious to you who they're from, after all, who could forget us? We're awesome."
Here the writing changed from a fancy looking scroll to a simpler cursive.
"Sorry about that Abby, Courfeyrac wrote that last part. Prouvaire just smacked him over the head so, I'm taking over now. As we were trying to say, you should easily tell who the objects are from, but in case you don't, we each wrote our names on our seperate things.
Now our letter to you must end, and we do believe it shall be the last letter we ever write you. We know that you are probably sad, and we know that losing people you care about hurts very much. But we want you to always remember that no matter what happens, we will always love you. New people will come into your life after we're gone, accept them with open arms, it will help you heal and you'll continue to grow.
Abby, you are 16 years old now. It's time to make that final step into womanhood. Not that any of us would know anything about that, we're all men. But we're sure it's a big step, so take it with a big leap! Make us proud now, we know you can do anything you set your mind to!
The world is going to change, we are sure. We hope that it's good change, the people of Paris deserve good change. People like you, who lived on the streets with nothing. You've come so far, and done so much, and we're sure you'll do much more. We're really just rambling now, we don't want to end this letter, but now we will.
To our Cafe Princess, we hope you have a very happy birthday, and go on to live a happy life full of Love and Laughter. We know our lives were filled with such,
Signed, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Prouvaire, Lesgles, Joly, Feuilly, R, Marius, Enjolras, and Gavroche"
Abby stared at the letter for a long time before looking up at the remaining part of the amis. Folding the letter back carefully, she put it on the table and began digging through the box. The first thing she pulled out was a picture, of an elephant with wings. On the bottom of the picture there was a tab that said to pull, so she did. When she did the elephant's wings moved.
She smiled and laughed "Prouvaire's flying elephant and moving pictures!" she exclaimed as she pulled the tab in and out, making the picture's wings flap up and down. Next thing she pulled out was a worn, but carefully knit cap which she laughed at "Haha, Lesgles hat. He always wore it to cover up that he was bald" she murmured.
Next thing she pulled out was a bottle of cologne "Oh really Courfeyrac, of all the things to give me?" she asked. She chucked and pulled out the next, extremely heavy item in the box and put it on the table "World's largest book about everything. This is Combeferre's" she said, running her hand down the front cover.
"Grantaire really?" she asked as she pulled out a wine bottle. Grantaire's eyes widened "Careful with that! It's my favorite wine!" he told her. She laughed "Yea, the wine you shared with me when you first babysat me" she told him. He nodded "Yep, that's why it's my favorite" he told her.
Next she pulled out a roll of bandages "Are you trying ot say something Joly?" she asked him, narrowing her eyes. He laughed "Yes actually. I was trying to say don't get shot, don't fall out of trees, don't get sick, don't fall in the river, and don't fall and scrape yourself all the time!" he told her.
She rolled her eyes and picked up the next present "Aw Marius!" she said, pulling out some dried roses "You left me roses?" she asked. He nodded "Since I was always known as the love struck fool. I figured that would represent me pretty well" he admitted.
"Aw, one of Feuilly's fans. He worked so hard on these so he could get a promotion" Abby said as she flipped it open, examining it before closing it again. "Just in time too, summer's starting soon!" she laughed as she put it on the table.
Abby pulled out a black cravat next "I wondered where this went, you stopped wearing it after the battle" she said as she ran it through her fingers. Enjolras nodded "Yea, you were always looking at it and seemed to like it so, I put it in there" he told her. Finally her eyes caught onto something shiny, which she reached in and pulled out.
It fit in the palm of her hand, and she recognized it at once "It's Gavroche's good luck charm!" she gasped. It was half a coin, that Gavroche had carried in his pocket everywhere with him. Gavroche looked over "Gavroche? But I'm Gavroche!" he said, confused.
Joly smiled "No, this is the Gavroche you were named after" he told him. His eyes lit up "Really?" he asked. They nodded "Yep, Gavroche was very brave and, gave his life for the people of Paris" they told him. Abby carefully placed it on the table carefully and reached into the box for the last item.
Pulling it out, she smiled a little at the red flag "Really?" she asked. They nodded "We had an extra one in case we lost the first one" Marius told her "But then we realized we wouldn't need it, so we gave it to you". Abby hugged it to her chest "Well I like it. Thank you all" she said quietly.
Carefully she put everything back in the box and closed it "I'm gonna keep this box closed for now" she told them "So I don't lose anything in it". Marius nodded "That's a very good idea" he told her. Slowly everyone began bidding each other goodbye and they all headed home.
Abby lead Esprit down the street as she walked next to Enjolras. Gavroche had fallen asleep on the pony's back and Abby sighed "Things will get better now won't they?" Abby asked. Enjolras looked over at Gavroche and nodded "I hope so. I've finished school now and can start working. Gavroche's getting old enough to handle himself..." he trailed off. "And you're getting old enough to find a lover" he finally said.
She sighed sadly "I don't think I'll get a lover 'Jolras. You and Gavroche need me here so, I really should stay" she told him. Before he could speak she nodded "Yes, I'm sure, I'm staying here. My mind's made up" she told him.
As they reached the flat Abby took Esprit and put her back in her shed before carrying Gavroche in and putting him to bed. Enjolras put the box at the end of Abby's bed and she went over to him "You're a widow and you're hardly 30. I'm sorry" she told him.
He swallowed and felt himself begin to cry "Yea, I'm sorry too".
Things were getting a bit too soft, so I KEEEELLLLED Stephanie. You're welcome =)
Anyway, we're heading towards the end! For realsies now! All Abby has to do is fall in love, and then we're basically done I'd say. This fluff fest needs to end soon... Like seriously.
So please review, before I get bored and ditch this story. And um, yea, that's it. Review, and THANKS FOR READING!