A/N: Thanks to everyone who's read as well as reviewed.

I don't own Mathilde. She's a character I love (to give a good talking to) from Stendhal's "The Red and the Black". Awesome book, with one of the most loathsome protagonists I've ever met.

Chapter 16: From the Mouths of Babes

With summer drawing quickly to a close, Cosette has to see to getting Elodie ready to return to her classes. "While we're here I also want you to pick out one other thing you like that can help you with your lessons," Cosette tells her daughter as they are picking up some textbooks and school supplies at the bookshop two blocks from the school premises. The place is also crowded with parents and their children just as engrossed in back to school shopping, making it a little more difficult for Cosette to manoeuvre her shopping cart in the narrow aisles. "Elodie, where are you going?" she calls when the girl ducks into the aisle of language books.

"Looking for a sign language book," Elodie says, wobbling a little as she stands on tiptoes to get a better look at the selections on the highest shelf.

"You're not taking sign language at school."

"I want to learn to talk more to Cousin Darren."

Cosette smiles as she goes over to Elodie and steadies her with a hand on her shoulder. "You're such a sweet girl, always," she says as she puts a sign language guidebook in the cart. It never ceases to amaze her to see how Elodie has developed such a fierce protectiveness towards the other children in their so-called extended family. 'Perhaps because she's the oldest but not all eldest children act that way,' she muses. "I'll get you that, but don't you want something else for school too?" she offers.

Elodie pauses and shakes her head slowly. "You, Papa, Grandpa, and Grandma teach me a lot. I promise I'll study harder, Maman."

"I know you will. But I don't want you to push yourself too hard," Cosette points out as she smoothes out Elodie's hair. She's vowed not to become one of those mothers who inadvertently push their children to the brink all for the sake of a perfect school record and the envy of the neighbourhood. After all, her own parents did not have to pressure her to reach for any sort of ambition.

As she carefully backs the trolley out of the aisle she catches sight of another young mother waving to her. "Hello Mathilde," Cosette greets politely, recognizing her now from the school's parent-teacher association. "Also shopping for your boys?"

Mathilde lets out a dramatic sigh before tucking a blonde strand back into her updo. "It amazes me how many things children need just to sit in a classroom!" Her smile turns frosty when she sees Elodie. "I see you've brought her with you."

Elodie waves shyly at her. "Good afternoon Mrs. Sorel."

Mathilde merely nods before meeting Cosette's eyes. "I'm sure it won't be long till you and Doctor Pontmercy try for an actual child of your own," she remarks.

"We already have one," Cosette replies calmly as she slips an arm around Elodie's shoulders. "She's already a great kid."

"I'm sure," Mathilde says. She glances quickly at her phone. "I'm still not done with my errands. I'll see you around Cosette."

"Take care, Mathilde," Cosette replies. Before she can push the cart towards the cashier she sees Elodie let out a long, deep sigh. "It's fine, Elodie. You don't have to worry about it."

Elodie merely shrugs. "Maman, if you and Papa want to have a baby, it's okay. That's what grown ups do, right?"

"Yes, but it doesn't always have to happen right away," Cosette reasons. "You're a special, beautiful young lady and you're one of the persons who always makes me happy."

Elodie grins delightedly. "Am I old enough to take care of a little brother or sister?"

"Why, do you want one already?"

"Maybe when Cousin Alex gets bigger and Doc Eponine's baby too. It's tiring to have too many babies."

Cosette laughs and kisses the top of Elodie's head. "We all still have a long time to think about it." For one thing she doesn't plan on bringing another child into the world until she's worked out some more things in her job and Marius has his neurology practice up and running. 'Not till the end of this year at the very earliest,' she resolves as she and Elodie pay for their purchases and then head over to Saint-Michel, where they are supposed to meet Marius after work.

Thanks to all the events of the previous year, Cosette and Elodie are already well known to most of the staff and long-standing patients at the hospital. A number of them wave or greet them cheerily and draw them into small talk such that it takes time for them to make their way through the lobby. All of a sudden Elodie straightens up and runs towards a figure entering a side office. "Doc Eponine!"

Eponine stops in her tracks to pat the child's head. "Elodie, what are you doing here?"

"Visiting," Elodie says. She looks confusedly at Eponine and points to the gauze bandage on the doctor's forehead. "Why are you hurt?"

"I fell down," Eponine answers in a matter-of-fact tone. She laughs on seeing Cosette catching up to them. "Marius is still upstairs, making rounds with interns."

"I'll text him to meet us when he's done there," Cosette replies. Apart from the bandage on the side of her head and an ever so slightly anxious look in her eyes, Eponine appears to be in perfect health. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good despite yesterday. That's more than I can say for my mother-in-law." Eponine frowns slightly at this. "She's definitely getting a divorce. Auguste is helping her arrange that right now."

Cosette winces, already imagining how difficult this must be for Enjolras. "How is he holding up?"

"As you can guess he has a lot on his plate because of this, even with me helping out. I actually could use a bit of de-stressing at the moment," Eponine says as she lets them into the office. "Remember when the boys all crashed your house a few days ago? We finally got a lead on the case."

"You mean your patient?" Cosette asks, recalling now the conversation involving the footage recovered on the CCTV cameras.

Eponine nods. "Chetta's patient, actually, but her case was referred to me too." She bites her lip as she sits down at her desk. "It's horrible. Someone out there is luring all these young people-not just girls-telling them they'll get jobs, and then selling them off or worse."

Cosette crosses herself even as she glances at Elodie, who is busy studying a picture on the office wall. "How young?"

"Seventeen," Eponine whispers. She swipes at her eyes. "I can't imagine it...no wait, I could, since that was how old I was when I went to nursing school and met you and your Mom. That was a little scary."

Cosette cracks a smile as images of those bright but crowded hallways at the Hospital Royale's nursing school. "You were brave about it though."

"I had to be; there was nowhere else to go for me but up. Much the same with you," Eponine replies.

'With my mother as our clinical instructor I had no other choice,' Cosette thinks, and it is clear to her that Eponine still remembers those everyday battles to never do a thing wrong. "You had red hair then."

Eponine laughs gleefully. "Till the school's rector caught me and made me do something about it."

"It's what you did about it that was the shocking part," Cosette points out. She's never going to forget the sight of Eponine calmly sauntering into the classroom, dressed in that regulation white uniform of the nursing school but with a green bandana covering her newly shaved scalp. "It took you three, maybe four years for you to grow your hair back to where it is today."

"I'm not dyeing it again anytime soon," Eponine says as she adjusts her long ponytail before reaching for her phone, which has begun beeping. "Hello? Oh, Marguerite! Musichetta and I got to talk to Clara. I'll pass on to you the names and what else she told us about the other kids who were rescued so you can also get to work. It's just as bad as you imagined, or maybe even worse." She hums with interest as she listens to whatever the lady on the other line has to say. "I'll see you in a few minutes, here. Thanks."

It takes Cosette a moment to place the name. "Marguerite is Percy Blakeney's wife," she remarks.

"And more," Eponine glances at her watch. "She'll be here in a few minutes."

Cosette nods, knowing that soon she and Elodie will have to excuse themselves. "I'd like to meet her. Maybe you can invite her over once to my place. Your mother-in-law too."

"We may as well ask my sister, Chetta, Flor, and even Karen along," Eponine quips. "Karen-or Officer Hooper as she's also known, is someone who Bahorel has been seeing."

"Really now?" Cosette asks. This is something she'll have to ask the men about later. "Sounds like a ladies' day out."

"We'll make it happen," Eponine promises.

Cosette grins before nodding to Elodie. "Come on, I'll get you some ice cream now. Eponine has a meeting in a few minutes."

Elodie sighs before looking quizzically at Eponine. "Can you fix Cousin Darren's ears the way you fixed up my legs?"

"Oh baby, I'm not that kind of doctor. Besides he's getting hearing aids already and those help," Eponine tells her seriously.

"Not the same since he has to put them on and off, so Uncle R says," Elodie sniffs. "Is it that bad?"

"It can get better," Eponine says. "Now run along. It was good to see you."

Cosette scoops up Elodie and brings her out of the office before she can ask any more questions. "They have an important meeting to talk about," she explains. "It's not for us to hear."

"She would have told you. I'm too little," Elodie pouts.

"No she wouldn't. It's something secret."

"I don't like secrets."

Cosette is silent, unsure now how to explain the existence of such confidential matters to her child. 'For one thing she already lives among more than she knows,' she thinks as she sets Elodie down on her feet. "You'll understand when you're older."

"Not if I have to be so worried all the time," Elodie observes. "Everyone does, I don't want to."

Cosette sighs, knowing better than to contradict this, for the time being.