Éponine did as she told Cosette she would. After class the next day she told Dr. Valjean about Gavroche and her idea to win custody. He thought about it for a while, and decided that he wouldn't change anything about her project and told her that if she required any assistance from himself, not to hesitate to ask.
She then went to the orphanage, with Enjolras, and told Fantine of her plans to get Gavroche to come stay with her after the semester was over. Fantine was super excited and said that she would help in any way possible, already going over some of the forms she and her brother would have to fill out. Éponine didn't really understand a lot of it, but Enjolras was very attentive and actually knew about a lot of them. He asked for copies of the ones they could fill out before the court date, which she readily gave him. After their meeting with Fantine, Enjolras took her to lunch at a delicious Chinese restaurant close by, and then dropped her off at class.
The next few weeks were spent preparing their case. Enjolras spent a lot of time locked up in his room, going over what they needed to present to the judge. Some days, Éponine had to force him to come out and eat, or do his real homework.
One night, a week before Thanksgiving, he came out of his room with a giant grin on his face. He walked right up to his girlfriend, who was making chicken patties for dinner, lifted her up, kissed her, and spun her around. "Not that I'm not ecstatic about that kiss, but why?" She asked, once she was back on her feet.
"I got us a court date!" He exclaimed. Éponine soon had a grin matching his on her face.
"Really? That's amazing, Gabe!" She said, leaning up to kiss him again. "You're amazing, did you know that?" She asked.
"Yeah. I did. But thanks." He said, smirking. She turned back to the meal she was preparing, but he had different ideas. He stood behind her, putting his arms around her waist, and his chin on her head, swaying back and forth.
"Gabriel! Let me cook dinner! We can celebrate later." She said, trying to push him away, but laughing.
"Ummm, no." He said, pretending to think about it.
"I have a child to feed, as well as the two of us, you know." She tried.
"Still don't care." He said, not letting her go.
"Hmmm. I guess I just won't be able to please you later if you keep distracting me and I burn down the kitchen." She said, grinding her hips back on his. She felt his grip on her waist tighten significantly. "Oh, you like that?" She said, coyly. She felt him nod. "Too bad." She said, slapping his hands and butt-bumping him away from her.
He feigned hurt, but sat down to watch her cook, instead. Soon, it was ready and Éponine called her brother in from the living room where he was playing LEGO Marvel on the XBOX. They ate in silence for a while, before Éponine asked, "When is the court date?"
"The week before finals. It's on Thursday afternoon. One oh five, to be precise." The girl nodded.
"Does Gavroche have to be there?" Enjolras nodded. "I guess you can miss one afternoon of school." She told the boy. He grinned, and mouthed a thank you to Enjolras.
"No problem, little buddy. I'm just excited that you won't have to go back to the orphanage when this is all over." The man said, ruffling the boy's hair.
"It's not a done deal yet." Éponine said, sternly.
"There's no reason that they would say I can't live with you, Éponine! They can't!" Gavroche said.
"Gavroche, there is a chance that we will have over-looked something and they won't let you live with me."
"They have to let me! I don't know what else I would do." He said. He jumped out of his chair and ran into his room, slamming the door. Éponine just looked at Enjolras, who sighed and went to try and talk to the boy.
"Gav, will you come out?" Enjolras asked, through the shut door. He heard a hmph from the other side. "Will you talk to me?"
"No." Gavroche said.
"Will you let me in, at least?" The man asked.
"It's not locked." The boy replied, snappily. Enjolras slowly twisted the knob and walked into the room. He walked over to the bed, and sat down towards the top, near the boy's head.
They just sat for a while, the older student wanting to give the younger time to think. The boy spoke first. "What happens if they say no?" He asked.
"You'll just go back to the orphanage." Enjolras replied, simply.
"But, will you come visit me? You and Éponine? Or will you just forget about me?" The boy asked, shyly, fearful of the answer.
"Gavroche! Why would you ever think that? Éponine is your sister, she didn't forget you in the five years since she saw you last. Do you really think she's just going to give up on you if we don't win custody?" The boy shook his head, but Enjolras wasn't done. "And we're friends, at the very least, right? You know I think of you like the little brother I was never fortunate enough to have. Sometimes, I think that you are my own kid. I don't think your sister and I could live without you anymore than you couldn't live without us." Gavroche nodded again, and wiped his eyes. "Are you ready to go finish your dinner?" Enjolras asked.
The boy nodded, and stood. Right before the two guys reached the door, Gavroche turned and embraced the older man. Enjolras hugged him tightly. When they pulled away, Gavroche turned his back and said, "We don't have to tell Éponine that happened. It wasn't very manly." Enjolras just laughed and agreed.
"Next week, you obviously won't have class. If you are leaving campus, you have two choices. You can bring your assigned child back to the orphanage on Sunday, between one and four, or you can take them with you. Remember, either you or your partner has to be in the same building as them during break. For this week, only, you cannot have a sitter. Someone in this class has to watch them if you are unavailable or unable to." Dr. Valjean said. "Any questions?" When none were asked he continued. "You are free to go now. Just a catch-up class today. Any other questions, see me after class."
Éponine grabbed her coat, scarf, and bag, heading out of the room. Just as she was turning around to check if Enjolras was following her, he took her hand and started leading her to the union. They chatted, amiably, until they sat down at a table. "What are your plans for break?" She asked him.
"Well, I was meaning to ask you about this before, but I guess I'll just ask now. Would you and Gavroche like to come home with me?" Éponine almost spit out the spoonful of soup she had just put in her mouth.
"What?" She said.
"You heard me. I want you to come home and meet my family. But only if you're comfortable with that." He said, seriously.
"Well, we will have to ask Gavroche, but if you're sure you want your family to meet me, then I would be glad to meet them." She said diplomatically. He leaned over the table to kiss her, and she met him halfway.
"Thank you." He said. She just nodded.
That night when they all got back to the apartment, they asked the boy, who was all for it, wanting to get off campus.
"Are there any other kids?" He asked, the other man.
"Yeah. I have two older sisters, and one is married with two kids, one five and the other two. My eldest sister and her husband also took in my cousin, whose parents died in a car crash, but he's fourteen."
"Awesome! This is going to be so much fun!" The boy jumped around the open space behind the couch.
On Tuesday, two nights before Thanksgiving, the group decided to get together and have their own Thanksgiving dinner in Cosette and Marius' apartment. They split up the cooking ahead of time, as to not have anyone cooking all day, but it was still a lot of work for all involved. Cosette and Marius made the turkey as well as Fantine's famous snicker apple salad. Éponine and Enjolras, with a little help from a wanting-to-be-helpful Gavroche, made the stuffing, pecan, and cherry pies. Azelma and Courfeyrac made rolls, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Grantaire and Jehan made mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, and macaroni and cheese.
They all gathered all the food in the kitchen for Cosette to arrange before filing into the living room. Marius had rearranged the living room, turning the couch around to face the door, and pulled the kitchen table out to match it. He pulled the loveseat and chair up to the coffee table. Enjolras brought the three kitchen chairs from their apartment to the one in which the dinner would take place, and arranged them around the table.
Cosette came out to notify them that the food was all ready. They proceeded with the youngest, Hillaire and Julien, first, being helped by Jehan and Cosette, and then Rachelle and Gavroche, helping themselves. The rest of the adults filed behind, filled their plates, and went to sit at one of the tables. They ate and chatted until all plates were clear and the guys helped Marius put the living room back in order.
Sitting in the living room after their meal, they went through what everyone was thankful for, starting with the kids, again. "I'm thankful for my family. Gav, Rach, Julien, and R and Jehan. Because I love them." Hillaire said. R scooped her up and snuggled her to him, making the girl giggle.
"I'm thankful for all the yummy food we just ate. And for Hillaire. And Courf and Zel. And also the little baby." Julien's comment was gushed over.
"I'm thankful for all of the wonderful people I've met and the great times I've had since I moved here. I'm thankful for Cosette and Marius. I'm thankful for Hillaire, Julien, and all my other friends. And I'm thankful for Gavroche." Rachelle said the last part shyly, looking away from the boy sitting next to her. He just continued with his own.
"I'm thankful for everyone in this room and everyone at the orphanage and school. I'm thankful for Rachelle." He said, putting an arm around the girl. Éponine thought their relationship was much more mature than any other relationships in the assembled group. They were just so at ease with each other, even though they were thirteen years younger. "I'm thankful that I found my biological family, but I'm also thankful I found the family I belong in. With my sisters and all of our friends. I'm even thankful for my parents leaving me on the street so that I could find you all." The boy said.
"Gavroche, you just knocked anyone else's thankfulness speech out of the park." R said.
"You are wise beyond your years." Enjolras said. Rachelle just leant her head on his shoulder. Everyone else said similar things to the children. After everyone else went, Courfeyrac was the last, since he was the oldest of the group.
"I'm thankful for our awesome group of friends and that we can all be together like this. I'm thankful that everyone else cooks better than I do so that we could have that wonderful meal. I'm thankful to Dr. Valjean for giving us this project so that we could meet and love these great kids. And I'm thankful for the baby. But most of all, I'm thankful for my beautiful girlfriend." He turned to look at Azelma, then knelt down, on one knee, in front of her, putting his hand in his pocket. She eyed him, suspiciously. "Azelma Madelina Jondrette, I love you so much, and don't see that stopping anytime soon. I already love the amazing life inside of you that we created. Will you do me the honor of letting me love you forever and becoming my wife?" He asked, eyes pleading with the woman in front of him.
She looked at him seriously for a few seconds, making sure the jokester was actually being serious. Then a wide smile spread on her face. Courf couldn't stop a grin forming on his, mirroring his girlfriend. "Of course I'll marry you, you doofus!" She said, leaning forward to kiss her, now fiancé. Everyone smiled fondly at the couple, and R started the applause. When they pulled away from each other, he slid the ring onto her finger. It was beautiful with a simple, studded band, and a square, cream colored diamond. Smaller diamonds, like the ones around the band, surrounded the big one.
Not long after the proposal, all the girls finished gushing over the ring, they were calm and sitting back down. "What are you all doing on Thursday?" Cosette asked. "We are taking Rachelle and going to the orphanage to celebrate with Mom, Dad, and the kids there."
"We are just going to stay here with the twins. We thought it best to keep them together for the holiday. We'll probably have another meal, though." Jehan said.
"We are going to visit my parents. I thought it best that they meet my girlfriend, fiancée. They knew about it, but they have never officially met you." He explained.
All eyes went to Éponine, sitting on the floor in front of Enjolras, who was on the couch. "Umm-"
"The three of us are going to my parents' house." Enjolras answered for her. Everyone's eyes widened, except Cosette's.
"That's adorable!" The blonde gushed.
"Why is it adorable for me, and not the one getting married?" Éponine asked her friend.
"It just is." Cosette responded, looking smug and plotful, sneaking a glance at Enjolras. Éponine whipped around to look at her boyfriend, not missing the look.
"What do you know that I don't?" She asked him.
"A lot of things, my dear." He said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. The woman glared at him, but he just shrugged and rejoined the conversation, ignoring her.
Soon, they were all ready to leave. Éponine, Enjolras, and Gavroche were going to be leaving fairly early the next morning, and Azelma was tired from all the activity. They said their goodbyes and everyone split to their own apartments and beds.
A/N: So this isn't my best writing... It's kind of a scattered chapter. I felt like all the different parts needed to happen, however, none of them were long enough to be their own chapter. This is the result.
Guys! I'm running out of chapters! I actually need to crack down and finish this story, and it makes me kind of sad. I don't want this story to end, ever! But I need to finish it so that I can focus on some of my new ideas. I think I have five or six new multi-chaptered stories in the works. Some of them are Les Mis, some aren't. I hope that whenever I start posting them, you check those out.
I also have some other beef with all you readers (just kidding, I love you all!) But for real, I don't care a lot about my stats and such, I just like writing and this gives me an outlet for an audience and critique, as well as community. But I was looking at my stats the other day, and realized that my first multi-chaptered fic, Cindermax, posted in the Max Ride fandom, has so much more of everything! This story is written so much better, and in a larger, more involved fandom, I think. So y'all should work on fixing that. I'm not sure how, just do.
This was a really long author's note, I apologize. I'll just go now. See you next week when we get more insight into Enjolras' family (I think).