Chapter Text
His phone rings at 7am, Courfeyrac blearily slapping the bedside table in a desperate search for the offending item. Next to him Jehan mumbles something as they reach for their own phone as the alarm begins to blare.
“Mm-“ His voice cracks, and he takes a moment to compose himself properly. “Hello?”
“’Fey!” Cosette sounds far too cheery for this time in the morning, and far, far too awake.
“Yes..?” He manages.
“Oh, did you not have work today?” She sounds like she’s frowning.
“No, I do. I just… The alarm hadn’t gone off yet. It’s fine, why are you up this early Mrs self-employed?”
“I have a wedding later so I’m up early to finish decorating the cake. But I didn’t call you to ask your opinion on fondant so maybe I’ll make up for waking you up…”
“Alright…”
“I’m, well I’m pretty sure I am… Well, pregnant!” Courfeyrac sits bolt upright in bed, nearly sending Jehan toppling over the edge of the mattress.
“You’re what?”
“You know, what we’ve been aiming for the last couple of months?” She chuckles. “Not far along I’ll admit, but I took the test and it’s positive.”
“I- I don’t. Wow… How are you feeling?”
“Really good actually… If I hadn’t been keeping an eye on everything I might not have even noticed… Not particularly nauseous or light headed… I might regret saying that soon but there we are…” She sounds like she’s beaming nonetheless.
“That’s great ‘sette! I can’t even process this right now but… Okay I’ll be around after work. Okay? See you then.” He places the phone down to Jehan’s questioning look peering out from beneath their bed-head hair. “Cosette’s pregnant.” He grins, and their expression dissolves into a wide grin.
“You’re serious?” Courfeyrac nods, and Jehan envelopes him in a tight hug, sending them both falling back against the pillows in a giggling pile. Jehan kisses him firmly. “Congratulation’s.”
~~~
Marius and Cosette, having the largest house now, have been nominated to hold this years’ Halloween party. She’s told Courfeyrac and Jehan to get there a little early, so they knock on the door half an hour before everyone else is due to arrive only to find themselves confronted by a slightly robotic looking Cosette.
“Tada!” She grins, holding out her hands. Upon closer inspection the costume is a clever baby announcement, she has a crop top with various buttons and timers painted on, her face pale silvery white and her lower half clad in pale jeans. Her stomach, however, is painted with a loaf of bread and Courfeyrac bursts out laughing.
“Clever.”
“I wanted an amusing way of telling everyone, and then Marius made a joke about it so… Here we are.” She stands aside to let them both pass.
“And how is everything?”
“Still perfect ‘fey. The midwife says everything looks perfect on the scan.” She pats his cheek. “Don’t frown like that.”
The four of them sit and chat for a while until the doorbell rings, then Cosette decides she wants to do a big reveal and vanishes upstairs leaving the rest of them to do the greeting. The costumes are assorted, some serious, some completely ridiculous. The trio have come as the Powerpuff Girls, complete with Bossuet in a rather fetching blonde wig. Alexis is a skeleton, but Enjolras confesses that it’s just a pair of pyjamas he found after he completely forgot to pick up a different costume. Which makes sense, seeing as his primary mode of costume is face paint this year, good face paint, but face paint nonetheless.
“Cosette’s sorting out her hair.” Marius bluffs, surprisingly well, when Combeferre enquires – she’s managed to fashion her hijab into Harley Quinn bunches.
“Hurry up!” Bahorel, a fetching Dorothy with Toto Feuilly who looks less than impressed every time Bahorel scratches behind his ‘ears’, booms up the stairs. “We’re all starving!”
“Is everyone there already?” Cosette pops her head around the stairwell. Bahorel shrugs an affirmative. “Alright, I’m just coming.”
“You want a drumroll?” He teases.
“Actually, that’d be fun. Treat me like a runway model.” She grins, vanishing a moment as Bahorel finds some suitable music on his phone. She laughs the whole way through her dramatic spin out onto the landing, arms raised as she descends the stairs, ending in a wide grinned hair flick.
“You’re not!” Éponine puts her hands on her hips in a mock protest.
“Mhmm!”
“I won’t cry at this one.” Bahorel says, turning his face toward Feuilly’s shoulder anyway.
“Come on, go sit down and I’ll tell you everything!” Cosette shoos them excitedly. She gets everyone settled and dishing up at the table before she begins the story. “You all knew we were trying.”
“Yeah, we just expected more ‘married life’ beforehand.” Musichetta teases.
“It was a bit more complicated. We were having trouble so… Well, Courfeyrac” All eyes shift to him, fork halfway to his mouth. He feels he should wave. “He actually agreed to help us. So this little one is going to have three parents.
“That’s great.” Joly’s smile is wide and understanding as Bossuet claps Courfeyrac on the back. “This group is a fan of unconventional isn’t it?” Zey chuckle.
“You can say that again.”
“How’s it been, so far?” Enjolras asks, obviously remembering his own nauseous Halloween.
“It’s been really good, actually… I’ve felt pretty fine all along. We’re only about 15 weeks in though so I’m waiting for it all to change.”
“If you haven’t had it by now you’re probably fine… Damn you.” He pouts, but there’s a teasing glint in his eye.
“You must be due spring time?” Combeferre has obviously been calculating.
“The uh… The midwife thinks it might be our wedding anniversary.” Marius holds back an amused smile.
“How very romantic.” Éponine teases. “Most people go small gifts for that, you guys go all out.”
“It was hardly intentional.” Cosette protests. “It just worked out like that. But I think it’s kind of sweet.”
“Yeah, that’s just what I want to be doing on my anniversary.” Musichetta nudges Bossuet cheekily. “I can think of better things to be doing.”
“You two are terrible.” Joly tells zir partners.
“I’ve been thinking.” Enjolras says once they’ve settled on the sofa, still in costume. Alexis has only just agreed to go to bed, having fallen asleep on Enjolras’s shoulder on the tube home and then inevitably waking up as soon as they got nearly home. She’s still in her costume, but they managed to get the face paint off and her teeth brushed between them, so they’ll class it as a win. Grantaire glances across, they’re nearly facing each other, leaning back on the arms of the sofa, legs intertwined.
“Always dangerous.” He teases automatically. Enjolras pulls a face at him, rolling his eyes.
“Seriously. I uh…” He fiddles with his engagement ring. “I was thinking about kids.”
“Us and kids?”
“Mhmm…”
“You mean you’re getting broody because of Cosette?”
“No.” Enjolras protests.
“Because I am a little.” Enjolras glances up in surprise.
“Oh… Then yes, a little.”
“What exactly… Kid wise..?”
“I don’t exactly know.” Grantaire raises an eyebrow.
“Well you used to talk about adopting.”
“Yeah.” Enjolras smiles lightly. “I’d still like to but I’m not sure if now is the time.” Grantaire’s expression tells him to continue, intrigued. “Well… With Alexis nearly starting school and wedding planning maybe now’s not the time to get into something so complicated. So we can place all the focus on our current family. And I’m not sure if it would be fair to bring in a child who was older than Alexis, or to disrupt her like that. I guess I’m not sure if we’re ready to take on something like that because I’d love to be able to take in a kid who really needs a home, and a loving family but maybe not… Yet...”
“Are you suggesting we have another biological child?”
“Yeah…”
“Oh… Are you, I mean… Are you sure?” Enjolras sighs, looking back at his hands.
“I know last time was hard, and this time we’d have more to think about, different problems on top of the obvious. But I think I’d like to, that I can do it.”
“I know you can.” Grantaire tells him, squeezing his hand firmly. “You dealt with everything so… Fantastically well last time. Far better than I think I ever could have if I’d been in your situation. And I know you can do it again, I just didn’t know if you… Wanted to.” He puts carefully. Enjolras considers, chewing his lip.
“Well I didn’t know if I did for a long time. Having Alexis was amazing, but there was also that huge relief that it was over. But things are better now, people are better and we know we have this amazing support network. We’re in a far better place to do everything this time, I think. We’re settled, stable, we know what to expect…”
“You don’t have to justify it to me.” Grantaire smiles. “I’d love to have another kid.” He leans across to place a tender kiss to Enjolras’s gently curved lips. “Especially if I get to do it all again with you.”
“So I’ll talk to Shashi?”
“Soon?”
“Well it depends if you want to start trying after the wedding or not?
“You expecting a honeymoon baby?” Grantaire shoots him an amused look.
“No, no. It’s certainly going to be harder this time, my fertility is certainly not at the highest so we have to take that back into consideration and things. We probably won’t be that lucky a second time.” He smiles wryly. “So I thought if I talk to her now and sort things out things will be easier when we do start trying.”
“You’ve been thinking about this a lot huh?” Enjolras glances across with one of his wide-eyed worried looks that he has when he thinks he’s missed something important.
“I should have told you sooner-“
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m glad you’ve thought about things this thoroughly.”
“I still should have mentioned that I was thinking about it, and researching it…” Enjolras pulls his lip back between his teeth. “I feel like I’ve kept you in the dark and I never wanted to do that.”
“You haven’t, you wanted to be sure before you brought it up.” Grantaire turns his head gently with his hand and Enjolras’s eyebrow cocks a little. “That’s fine you know, to be sure.”
“So we’re trying?”
“We will be, when we’re ready.” Enjolras smiles, the nervousness in his blue eyes giving way to a kind of excitement. “Do you want to get some practise in?” He smirks teasingly.
“So cheeky, we’re not trying yet you know.” Grantaire pretends to consider.
“I know, but the way I’m thinking isn’t going to have that worry.” Enjolras chuckles, rolling his eyes.
“You’re an idiot.”
“An idiot who knows what he wants.” Grantaire shrugs, then leans in to murmur in Enjolras’s ear, nipping at the lobe. “And that happens to be my incredible fiancé.”
“Don’t try to sweet talk me.”
“Oh come on, you can’t tell me you don’t enjoy it. Me and my sexy skeletal face.” He grins, kissing Enjolras’s jawline, just below the level of his face paint. “And Alexis is finally asleep… I’ll be quiet.”
“You sure know how to woo a guy.” Enjolras raises an eyebrow. Grantaire presses another, white tinged kiss to his neck. Enjolras tilts his head back a little.
“Better?” Grantaire trails kisses down his neck before bringing their lips together. Enjolras pushes a hand into his hair, and Grantaire feels his face paint smear, and he thinks briefly about how awkward the clean-up will be later and chuckles. Enjolras pulls back a little, and laughs himself, reaching across to wipe Grantaire’s lip.
“Wow… You are so sexy right now.”
“Shsh.” Grantaire pulls him onto his lap. “Just close your eyes and pretend okay?”