CHAPTER NINE
(chapter title – Forgiveness)

Javert was reading his favorite novel when he heard someone knock on his door. He looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. The clock chimed ten times.

He opened the door and saw Ella standing on his doorstep, shaking and shivering.

"My child, what the devil are you doing all the way out here?" Javert asked, looking outside for Marius or anyone in Ella's family. When he didn't see them, he closed the door and turned all his attention to this shivering little one in front of him.

"M-my d-dad a-a-and I-I-I g-g-got i-in-into a-a-a f-f-fight." Ella answered, her teeth chattering loudly.

Javert led her to the couch and had her lay down upon it. He then found as many blankets as he could and piled them on top of her. She was still shivering like a leaf.

He started a fire in the fireplace when his house phone rang.

"Hello?...This is him….What?...Okay….Uh huh….Try John or Tim…You did?...no answer…I'll give you Nicki's number and see if she can help…Do you have a pen and paper handy?...It's 667-555-5981…Good luck…Good night to you, too…Bye." Javert hung up the phone and walked over to where Ella was.

He stroked her hair as his long-haired silver tabby, Alfred, slunk into the room. Alfred meowed loudly and waddled over to Javert. Alfred was also ten pounds overweight, so he was on a special diet cat food.

Ella lifted her head off the throw pillow and reached out to touch Alfred. He rubbed his head against Ella's palm and joined her on the couch.

Javert was sitting in the armchair next to the couch when the phone rang, startling Javert, Alfred and Ella. Javert ran to the phone and answered it on the fifth ring.

"Hello?...This is him…Hi, Marius," Javert greeted Marius. Ella shook her head and buried herself under the seven blankets that were piled on top of her. "Ella?...She's safe at my place….She said you two had a fight – oh…Oh…I'm sorry…Should I send her home?...You're on your way….Tell you what – why don't you check into a hotel and I'll have her stay with me…Okay…See you tomorrow…Bye."

Javert looked under the blankets and saw Ella sleeping peacefully, an arm wrapped around Alfred's body. He wiggled out of Ella's grasp and hopped off the couch.

He stroked her hair and looked at her for a while. She looked almost like Sally, his niece. He had lost contact with her and didn't know if she had Facebook or not.

Ella stirred in her sleep, her eyelids fluttering rapidly. She threw the blankets off her and in her sleep, pulled two or three on top of her.

Javert didn't get a wink of sleep that night. Ella started shaking violently. He put more blankets on her, but she kicked them off. He held her in his arms, hoping body heat would help – it didn't.

He dozed off as the sun peaked over the horizon. He made some coffee as Marius pulled into the driveway. He didn't wait until Marius was halfway up the steps, Anton in his arms, that Javert opened the door.

"This is the last place she would be." Marius whispered to Javert. Alfred came to inspect the new visitors and hissed loudly when Anton approached him.

"Anton, he's old and crotchety, so I wouldn't get too close." Javert told the little boy, chasing after him as Alfred went into Javert's room and hid under the bed, a low growling sound in his throat.

"Buh bye kitty." Anton told Alfred as he and Javert exited the room.

Javert went out to the living room and saw Marius sit down next to Ella. She peered out from her dark tunnel and glared at Marius.

"Ella, I have work and Anton has daycare. Let's go!" Marius told Ella.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Ella croaked.

He reached under the blankets and wrapped his fingers around her upper arm.

"Ow! Stop! You're hurting me!" Ella shouted.

"I don't care – you've caused a lot of trouble for me!" Marius told her. He then turned to Javert, "thank you for everything you've done for her."

"You're welcome." Javert said, watching Marius drag Ella out of the house. She was kicking and screaming. She then stopped acting out and nearly fainted.

Javert rushed outside to see what happened.

"She's burning up, even though it's freezing out here," Marius told Javert. "Would you mind watching Anton while I take her to the hospital?"

Javert nodded and watched Marius zoom off into the distance.

"Dada!" Anton wailed.

"You're going to stay with me for a while." Javert told Anton, taking him inside.

The two of them watched a movie and were playing a game when Javert's phone rang.

"Anton, I'll be right back. No cheating!" Javert told Anton as he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Javert? It's Marius."

"I know – caller ID. What's going on?"

"Ella has phenomena and has to stay in the hospital for a while."

"I'm so sorry!"

"She had the beginning stages when she was at Sara's birthday party. I probably caused this."

"No, you didn't," Javert said firmly, "it was the weather and the outfit she had on – some boy band T-shirt, boxer shorts and sandals."

"If it wasn't for you, she would probably be dead by now."

"Hush – do not speak like that."

"Changing subjects, how's Anton doing?"

"He's all right – we're playing a game then I was going to make some macaroni and cheese."

"Sounds good. I'll be by to get him soon, as soon as Ella's situated in her hospital room."

"All right. Tell Ella I said hello and to get better soon."

"I will."

With that Marius and Javert hung up their phones. Javert sighed and went to sit with Anton.

He made Anton dinner and was feeding him when the phone rang again.

"Hello?...This is him….When?...Oh my God….Oh my God….Um I'll be there as soon as I can…thank you…bye." Javert hung up the phone and went to sit with Anton.

"What wrong?" Anton asked.

"Nothing, sweet boy." Javert lied, not wanting to explain that the police found Sally. She had died in a car accident that morning.

Just then, Marius came for Anton. Javert carried the little boy out to see his father as he locked the door behind him.

"What's going on?" Marius asked as he put Anton in his car seat.

"I got a phone call from the morgue. They found Sally – she died in a car accident and I need to identify the body." Javert explained.

"The morgue is on the way to the hospital – I'll give you a ride." Marius told Javert. He smiled and got in the front seat.

Marius exited the driveway and took Javert to the morgue before going to the hospital.

When Anton and Marius got to Ella's room, Enjolras was there, looking at the sleeping little girl. He looked up when Marius and Anton entered.

"No change." Enjolras whispered as Marius handed him Anton.

"She looks so peaceful." Marius whispered back, looking down at Ella.

She was in a sky-blue hospital gown and was hooked up to several monitors that was beeping, buzzing and humming. She laid under a heated blanket, which hopefully, would make her warmer.

She stirred a little in her sleep, but didn't wake up. Marius sat on the chair next to the bed as Enjolras exited the room.

"Marius?" a kind voice whispered through the darkness. Marius blinked a few times and saw Cassidy enter the room. Today, she wore a pink T-shirt with 'Riverdance' written across the front with a white tank-top underneath, cream-colored Capri's and black sandals. Her hair was in a short braid.

"Cassidy! I thought I would never see you again!" Marius whispered, going over to her and kissed her hand. She smiled and walked over to Ella.

"How's she doing?" Cassidy asked.

"No change. I thought you hated me."

"I don't hate you. I don't like what you did to Ella – taking away the one thing she loved for a whole month."

"I think I'm going to let that punishment go."

"Good. Punishment doesn't teach kids anything."

"Do you believe in punishment?"

By this time, the two of them were having dinner in the hospital cafeteria, since there was no change to Ella's health.

"No, I don't."

"What if a child misbehaves or does something incredibly dangerous?"

"I tend to look at it in a positive manner and try to get them focused on something else."

"That's exactly how Cosette would've answered that question." Marius said, feeling a lump in his throat when he mentioned Cosette's name.

Cassidy smiled, then frowned. She had lost her husband, Ryan, two years ago, so she knew how Marius was feeling. Ryan was a soldier in Afghanistan and was killed when his humvee ran over a roadside bomb. He and two others were killed instantly.

"So, Cassidy, were you ever married?" Marius asked.

"Yeah, I was, but he died two years ago in Afghanistan. His humvee ran over a roadside bomb. He and two others were killed instantly." Cassidy answered.

"Oh God – I'm so sorry!" Marius apologized.

"It's all right. You would've loved him. He was really sweet, outgoing, positive, had a great sense of humor and had a good head on his shoulders."

"What was his name?"

"Ryan. What about you?"

"My wife's name was Cosette."

"That's a beautiful name."

"Thanks."

"How did she die, if you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all – she died the day after our son was born from septic poisoning."

"I'm so sorry!"

"Thanks. Can we talk about something else? This is making me upset."

Cassidy nodded and reached across the table for Marius' hand.

They talked about how they met their spouses, along with favorite TV shows, movies, music, animals, colors, books, foods and places to visit.

"You wouldn't want to come over for some wine, would you?" Marius asked.

"Sure. I'm not teaching tomorrow, so yeah." Cassidy finished rather lamely.

"Anton is staying with Enjolras and his family tonight, so we have the whole house to ourselves." Marius told Cassidy as they walked to the car.

It was a silent ride to the Pontmercy's house, which Marius was okay with.

"Is white wine all right?" Marius asked from the basement.

"White is fine with me!" Cassidy called back as she looked at framed pictures of Marius, Cosette, Ella and Anton. "Your wife was beautiful!"

"Thank you," Marius said as he poured Cassidy a half-glass of white wine. "This is my favorite – it's called White Willow."

"It's very fruity and sweet." Cassidy noted, taking a sip.

"Do you like it?" Marius asked.

"Yeah. It's good." Cassidy answered, taking another sip.

As he and Cassidy talked, he saw her in a whole new light. He leaned in to kiss her and she returned it.

He stood up and led Cassidy to the bedroom, not breaking contact with her. They made their way to the bed as clothes came off in all directions.

Cassidy took her hair out of her braid and it fell to her shoulders. Marius put his hands on either side of her body as she laid on top of him, feeling him go inside her.

"You are so beautiful, you know that?" Marius whispered in her ear when they finished. He looked at the dog tags around her neck and ran his fingers over them.

"I am?" Cassidy asked, turning over so she was facing Marius.

"No one's called you beautiful before?" Marius questioned.

"Not since Ryan." Cassidy answered.

"Cass, everything okay?" Marius asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Ella or any of your friends?" Cassidy asked. Marius nodded and promised he would not breathe a word about it to anyone. "I don't know where to begin."

"What about at the beginning, since it's a good place to start." Marius joked, trying to relieve some of the tension in the air.

"Shut up!" Cassidy teased, her face suddenly getting very serious, "when I was a teenager, I was sexually molested by a neighborhood boy who used to watch me as a kid. I was fifteen and he was twenty-two at the time. The neighborhood boy was actually my science tutor. When I did my homework, he would sit right next to me and have his hand up my shirt, telling me what a special and sweet girl I was."

"Did you tell anyone?" Marius asked, holding her in his arms.

"I told my parents, but they didn't believe me. It wasn't until I started throwing up every morning that they knew something was wrong with me. They took me to the doctor and she said that I was about four weeks pregnant. My father had a temper and he kicked me out of the family. My mother was very quiet and didn't say anything, other than for me to pack my bags. I had a little boy who I gave up for adoption, seeing as I wasn't a good mom.

I met Ryan and my whole world changed. Even though he was in boot camp, we found ways to see each other. Then he had to go to Afghanistan to help in this special mission. He wouldn't tell me anything about it and that was that. Ryan also had a little bit of a temper, but it didn't bother me. We were together four months before he asked me to marry him. I said 'yes'. He wanted to have kids right away. We had twin boys who were stillborn and were delivered six months early." Cassidy finished her story, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Marius held her close, letting her know it was all right.

As she slept in his arms, Marius hoped that Cassidy would have a better life with him, Anton and Ella.