The Barricade Girl (A Les Miserables FanFiction)

Chapter Sixty-Nine

"I'm taking you to a Doctor". Without saying another word, Maggie grabs her coat and bonnet, and ushers me toward the front door as quietly as possible. Without argument, I follow her. Taking matters into her own hands, she unhitches one of the wagons and hitches my faithful Maximus to the front of it. She takes the reins, and we travel as quickly as possible. It's as if Maximus senses the urgency, and he gallops faster than I've ever known him gallop. But he also gallops carefully, as if he's trying his best to protect the life that might be growing inside me. The worry bites at me that this might be something more sinister than a baby, lurking beneath the surface to catch me off guard and break me further. Maggie and I don't say a word as we travel, anxiety filling the space between us. It's probably for the best – neither of us really knows what to say. We arrive at the nearest doctors, and leave Maximus guarding the wagon nearby.

"It's going to be fine..." Maggie squeezes my hand as we stare at the building. We both take a deep breath, and open the door. Maggie heads straight for the reception desk to register my name. I take in the scene around me. The room is full of people – the sick, the poor, the destitute, all looking for help. All people that Enjolras sought to help with his cause. This was exactly the kind of thing he was fighting against – the injustice, the class system, the poverty. Nothing seems to have changed. Was Enjolras' death in vain? Did my friends sacrifice their lives for nothing?

We sit for what feels like forever. As we wait, I sit clutching Maggie's hand, blankly staring into space as my mind is plagued with all kinds of thoughts and questions that I can't answer.

"I didn't tell Courfeyrac. No-one knows we're gone..." Maggie breaks our silence.

"Does Courfeyrac know about –?" I start to ask, but Maggie mentally finishes the question and rushes to answer.

"No. He doesn't. He doesn't know you might be pregnant. He just thinks your sick", she explains. "As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one who knows, or who even suspects, that you are".

"I'd like to keep it that way..." I smile weakly, but the worry is still evidenced on my face. Our conversation is cut short by the sound of the doctor calling my name. We enter his office and the noise of the outside world is drowned out when he closes the door behind us.

"No husband?" He questions.

"...He couldn't make it..." I answer softly, and he nods. He does some tests and examines my body. I wipe the palms of my hands on my dress repeatedly, my worry making them sweat too much. And then he says those words.

"Congratulations! You're pregnant!"

We travel back home at a slower pace, both Maggie and Maximus obviously giving me as much time as possible to process the news. I stare straight ahead, numbed by the news. I can't cry. I feel like crying, but I physically can't. I delicately place a hand over my lower stomach. Unbeknownst to me, there has been a little life growing in here, and no-one knew. A little life that is as old as my marriage. I just wish Enjolras had gotten to know about it. Or maybe he did? Maybe this was his intention. To leave me with a little part of him when he was gone. Part of me wonders if we should have been more careful. Part of me is glad we weren't. But since when were we ever careful in anything? He led a revolution, for crying out loud. There was nothing careful about that.

"...So am I to congratulate you or...?" Maggie asks, genuinely wondering whether this is happy news or not.

"Yes", I break out of my trance. "You can...if you want. This is meant to be happy news..." I try to smile. "Right?" I ask, not really knowing how to feel myself.

"If you want it to be", she replies.

"I do want it to be", I nod. "I just...I wish he were here".

"I know. I wish that too..." She pauses. "But you have a piece of him. Inside of you. That little life will be a combination of the most beautiful parts of you, and of him", she assures me in the way that only she can. "A product of the love you shared. A life that only you and he could have made. He or she will be a one-off. Their going to be marvellous", she grins. "Just like their mother".