inthewildwood | Fic: the tale of the nine godfathers

Title: the tale of the nine godfathers
Fandom: Les Miserables
Pairings/Characters: Marius/Cosette, Les Amis
Summary: Cosette has a baby, and everyone arrives at the hospital.

The mass text that says Marius and Cosette are on their way to the hospital goes out around three in the afternoon. It's followed five minutes later by another one reading "OMG THE CAR WON'T START, HELP!!!!"

Fortunately, they were prepared for this (because Marius's car is a piece of junk that he hangs onto only because he won't let his grandfather buy him a new one) and as both Enjolras and Grantaire work from home, they pile into their car and drive over to Marius's. It only takes ten minutes to get there, but by the time they pull into the driveway, Grantaire's phone already has three more frantic texts about Cosette potentially giving birth right there in their driveway, and another from Cosette assuring them not to worry, because Marius is freaking out over nothing; her water hasn't even broken yet.

"I could have figured that out on my own," Grantaire says. Enjolras just shrugs, but a corner of his mouth twitches like he's suppressing a smile.

When they pull into the driveway, Cosette is sitting placidly on the front steps with her overnight bag in her lap, and Marius is pacing frantically back and forth, phone in hand, like he's about to send out frantic text #4. Enjolras hops out of the car once they're parked, but Marius is already running towards them yelling not to stop the engine because they have to go right now, guys. Cosette, meanwhile, just qietly gets up- she's breathing a little hard, and her face is flushed, but altogether she's way more put-together than her boyfriend- takes Enjolras's hand, and climbs into the backseat next to Grantaire. Marius goes scrambling in after her, and nearly faceplants into her lap. She just laughs and pats his hair.

"How are you feeling?" Enjolras says with a glance in the rearview mirror. Cosette shrugs a little, still smiling. "I've been having contractions for about four hours now. Marius wanted to go to the hospital right away-" (of course he did, no one actually says out loud) "-but I didn't want to go as long as everything felt okay."

Grantaire frowns. "Does everything not feel okay now?"

"I'm fine!" she says brightly, then blushes a bit. "But I think I might want painkillers soon."

Grantaire has never given birth in his life, but he can fully understand the need for painkillers, so he nods sagely. Cosette lets out a long, slow breath and closes her eyes while Marius rubs her back. He's actually not bad at this, Grantaire thinks, when he's not freaking the fuck out all over the place. The kid will at least have a decent shot at being well-adjusted, so long as Cosette keeps her boyfriend in check when he starts panicking about, well, everything. And it'll be loved, which is the more important thing anyway.

"How far to the hospital?" Marius asks anxiously, even though everyone in the car knows for a fact that he's traced the route on Google Maps at least twenty times. Enjolras doesn't snap at him, though- he's being remarkably patient, given that his relationship with Marius can get strained sometimes- and replies, "half an hour, if traffic's good."

"Good," Cosette says, a little faintly. Her eyes are still closed. Enjolras looks at her in the rearview mirror and steps on the gas.

Unfortunately, traffic is not good, because there was a head-on collision on the highway. No one was badly hurt, but traffic is being rerouted, and it's backed up for almost a mile. The cop who redirects them is sympathetic, but he can't very well break through the jam, so they spend another hour in the car while Marius freaks out, Cosette breathes hard, and Enjolras swears under his breath at the cars in front of them.

Cosette looks down at her lap and blushes again. "Oh,"

Enjolras twists around in his seat to stare at her. "Oh?"

Grantaire looks over. "I think the miracle of life just happened in your backseat."

Enjorlas slams on the brakes just as Marius shouts "what?" and Cosette shakes her head at all three of them. "Nobody panic. My water broke, that's all." She catches Enjolras's eye and reddens. "I'm really sorry about your upholstery."

"Not your fault," he says easily, then leans forward squinting at the road, because it's finally opened up, and they go speeding down the freeway. Cosette still isn't making much noise, because she's Cosette, but everyone in the car is feelings more than a little anxious about getting to the hospital. Marius, fortunately, is so engrossed in patting Cosette's back and stroking her hair that he isn't even freaking out that loudly.

Joly, who's interning at the hospital, meets them in the parking lot with Musichetta and a wheelchair. Cosette insists that she doesn't need the chair- she's in labour, she can still walk- but gratefully takes Musichetta's hand as the walk inside. Everyone agreed that having the baby at the hospital was the best plan- nothing's gone wrong in prenatal appointments, but they dpn't have much in the way of a genetic profile on Cosette's side, so the hospital is the safest bet- but she wanted to have a midwife with her, and since Musichetta's been apprenticed to one for the past year, she was the obvious choice. She and Marius whisk Cosette off to her room while Enjolras and Joly fill out the paperwork and Grantaire hangs around feeling helpless.

Joly glances up from the intake form. "Did anyone call Mr. Fauchelevent?"

Grantaire nods, grateful to finally be of some use. "Cosette called him when it started. He's driving down from Montreal." As if on cue, the doors burst open and Feuilly, Bahorel, Bossuet, and Jehan come pouring in. It is- Grantaire checks his watch- almost five-thirty, which means that everyone but Courfeyrac and Combeferre will be getting off work. Courf and Combeferre both work at the law firm downtown, which means that they won't be let out until at least nine. Courf's been texting him for the past hours while they were stuck in traffic, though, so he knows what's going on. Once the intake forms are filled out, Joly heads down the hall to Cosette's room while everyone else crushes themselves into the waiting room chairs- much to the dirty looks of the other people waiting- and settle in for the long haul.

Cosette gets the painkillers she asks for, but they take a bit to kick in, so Musichetta walks her back and forth across the room, reminding her to take deep breaths and telling Marius to rub her back and shoulders. Cosette's father get there around seven, and looks nearly as panicky as Marius does, so Joly sends them both down the halls to get ice while he and Musichetta settle Cosette back into bed as the drugs take effect and she smiles dreamily at all of them.

She goes to sleep around ten, and Joly suggests that now would be a good time for Marius and Mr. Faucheleven to get some rest as well, but Cosette's father is perched anxiously on the edge of his chair staring at his daughter, and Marius is still pacing, so Joly just sighs and sends Marius out to keep the rest of their friends posted on what's going on.

"How much longer?" Marius asks anxiously, clutching the cup of ice he'd brought back. Joly checks his watch. "Two or three hours, I'd say. She's pretty dialated now, but the contractions are still fifteen minutes apart, so we'll see what happens when she wakes up." He gives Marius a gentle push. "Go talk to the guys."

Combeferre and Courfeyrac have arrived by now, and they brought doughnuts with them, so everyone is flopped out on the waiting room chairs alternately snacking and napping. Jehan is braiding Feuilly's hair while Grantaire's passed out with his head on Enjolras's knee and Combeferre frowns at his textbook. The people who are still awake stand up when Marius appears, but he hasn't got that much to update them on, so Bossuet just shrugs and offers him a doughnut. He crams the whole thing in his mouth at once, and takes off down the hall again.

Cosette wakes up about an hour later, and things progress pretty quickly after that- the drugs have worn off, so she's making a lot more noise, which sends both Mr. Fauchelevent and Marius into twin panic spirals until Musichetta sternly informs both of them that they can't stay if they're going to upset Cosette. Joly's prediction about three hours falls a bit short, because Marius re-appears in the waiting room after an hour and a half, beaming from ear to ear, to announce that he and Cosette have a baby boy.

The waiting room erupts into cheers, until the on-call nurse hushes them, and everyone takes turns hugging Marius and/or pumping his hand enthusiastically. Grantaire forgot to bring cigars, so he passes out Timbits instead. Marius only stays for about five minutes before he rushes back to Cosette's room- she and the baby need rest, so she's not seeing any visitors aside from her father and Marius. The group breaks up, and everyone packs it in for Bossuet and Joly's apartment, since it's the closest one to the hospital.

Marius sends out another mass text the next morning (or, technically, the same morning) saying that Cosette and the baby are both awake and ready to see people, so they all pile into Feuilly's van and drive over. When they're ushered into the room, Cosette is sitting up in bed with her baby in her arms, beaming at everyone and looking for all the world like a Madonna, complete with a gold halo of hair. Grantaire and Feuilly flop down on the bed while Combeferre perches on the chair next to her and everyone else scatters around the room. The baby- who doesn't have a name yet, though Marius's grandfather has been dropping some very broad hints- yawns widely, staring at everyone around him with wide blue eyes, like he doesn't understand any of what he's looking at. Combeferre brushes the top of his head with gentle fingers. "Good luck, kid."

Cosette smiles. "I think he already has it."