The Barricade Girl (A Les Miserables FanFiction)

Chapter Seventy-Six

After hours of tossing and turning due to the nerves making me feel like there is a knot in my stomach as well as a baby, the little sleep that I managed to get is disturbed by an excitable Gavroche jumping up and down on my bed.

"Careful, Gavroche", Courfeyrac whispers, a warning tone in his voice.

"I am being careful!" Gavroche giggles.

"I told you not to wake her", Courfeyrac whispers again, thinking that because my eyes are still closed, I somehow haven't been woken up by them tumbling into my room.

"But it's Christmas!" Gavroche gives a celebratory shout.

"Ssh!!!" Courfeyrac tries to quiet him down, but to no avail.

"It's alright..." I say, groggily opening my eyes. "I'm awake..." I stretch and yawn, my eyes finally adjusting to the sight in front of me – Gavroche and Courfeyrac, still in their pyjamas, standing in the middle of my room. I can't help but smile. Gavroche rushes from my bed to the window, hardly able to contain his excitement.

"And it's snowing!!! On Christmas!!!" He exclaims.

"Merry Christmas, Jules", Courfeyrac says, plonking himself beside me on the bed and placing a kiss on my head.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Courf", I laugh at the weary tone of his voice, as if he has just woken up himself. I imagine Gavroche woke him in a similar manner to the way he woke me. "Merry Christmas, Gavroche".

"Merry Christmas, Juliette!" Like an energetic puppy, Gavroche runs toward me from the window, jumping beside me on the bed and throwing his arms around me. "Do you think Père Noël has come already?"

"I'm sure he has", Courfeyrac smirks. "He might have left you something in your shoes downstairs".

"But I thought we put carrots in my shoes", Gavroche sounds confused. Courfeyrac and I try to hold in our laughter, indulging his innocent and unwavering belief in Père Noël. "The carrots were for Père Noël's donkey, Gui, remember?" Courfeyrac patiently explains. "And Père Noël will have come here during the night, and if you've been a good boy, he'll have taken the carrots for Gui and left you some gifts in their place. Yes?"

"But what if I haven't been a good boy?" Gavroche gasps.

"That couldn't be possible", I hug him to me, kissing his blond hair. "You're the best boy in the world. Come on, let's go". Gavroche doesn't need telling twice, and is off the bed and out of the room in a blink of an eye.

"Don't open them without us, Gavroche", Courfeyrac shouts after him as he steps off the bed and offers me his hand to help me get up.

"The sooner this thing is out of me the better", I moan as I try to stand up. "Getting out of bed used to be a lot easier", I joke.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me seriously.

"I didn't get much sleep. Knots in my stomach all night", I tell him. "What if we don't hide the bump well enough? What if they notice?"

"Maggie and Madame did a great job on your clothes for today. And with your dress cloak, no-one will see a thing", Courfeyrac assures me. "I promise".

"I don't know, Courf. This bump is a bit bigger than I expected it to be..." I sigh.

"And how would you know what it's meant to look like at this stage?" He raises an eyebrow, smirking. "How many pregnant women have you talked to?"

"None..." I answer, knowing he's right.

"You have nothing to worry about. Today will be fine".

Gavroche opens his presents with glee as Courfeyrac, Valjean, the nuns and I look on, everyone looking just as happy watching him as he is opening them. Once finished, we waste no time in getting ready to travel to Grandfather's estate. I put on the specially made dress that Maggie and Madame Houcheloup worked on, and put on the cloak they made for me to wear over it. "If you keep this on, no-one will notice your bump", Madame had instructed me. I look at myself in the mirror, and turn from side to side, looking to see how noticeable it is. I can still tell it's there, but that's because I'm looking for it to be there. I pray that the oblivious minds of my family won't see it at all. Courfeyrac trudges through the snow to hitch up Maximus, and lifts Gavroche into the wagon before helping me through the snow and to my seat between them. Valjean and the nuns stand at the doors and windows, waving them off, and Valjean gives me an encouraging look, telling me that everything will be okay. The whole journey there, I silently pray that we'll be okay, that no-one will suspect a thing, and that this day will fly by without a hitch. I've never found myself wishing Christmas away before, and I don't want to make a habit of it, but the sooner we're out of there, the better. In a couple of hours, we reach the familiar sight of Grandfather's estate. It's strange – I've missed it. I never expected to feel this way when I saw it again, but I feel a strange relief at seeing the familiar house.

"Now, remember Gavroche, not a word, okay? No mention of the baby, or Valjean, or the convent and the nuns", Courfeyrac repeats to Gavroche one last time. "If anyone asks – we've been staying with Arnaud and you're having a great time, alright?"

"I've been staying with Arnaud and I'm having a great time", Gavroche echoes Courfeyrac as if he's trying to remember lines in a play.

"Good boy", Courfeyrac lets out a sigh of relief. He slows Maximus to a halt inside one of the outbuildings, and steps down from the wagon and helps me down. He lets me take his arm, and Gavroche grips tightly to my other hand as we walk across the snowy grounds toward the front door of the house. We reach the steps, and we all stand staring at the doorbell.

"Is someone going to ring the bell?" Gavroche whispers.

"Nope..." Courfeyrac and I both reply in unison.

"I'm not doing it", I turn to Courfeyrac.

"Fine..." He huffs, pressing his finger on the bell, and then jumping back to my side again.

"I'm nervous", Gavroche gulps, saying what we're all thinking.

"Me too", I squeeze his hand. "Let's be nervous together".

"We'll all be okay", Courfeyrac tells us, assuring himself as much as he's assuring us. "It's just one small dinner, right?"