A Promise

Chapter Twenty-Three

        Enjolras and I stayed up late into the the night, planning not only our wedding, but our future together. I had never been happier. My smile was unstoppable. "When should we tell Les Amis?" Enjolras asked me.

        "Soon," I said. "After we've planned everything out and after the excitement about Joly and Musichetta has died down."

        "And when should the big day be?"

        I thought about it for a second. There were unspoken words hidden underneath the surface of that question. Should we hurry up and get it done before the revolution, or should we wait until after the revolution and risk one of us dying before the big day? "Let's wait until after the revolution," I suggested. "No matter how important I am to you, you still have a duty to this fight. You cannot be distracted by something as big as a wedding."

        "All right," Enjolras agreed. "We'll do it after the revolution."

        We sat together in contented silence for a while. I rubbed Enjolras' ring between my thumb and forefinger, a mannerism that had become a habit. "Enjolras?" I asked quietly.

        "Yes, Ep?"

        "If we have a son, can we name him Grantaire?"

        "Why Grantaire?" Enjolras asked.

        "Well, Grantaire has saved my neck twice now, and he's been so nice and friendly. I thought it would be a great way to repay him for all the kindness he's shown me."

        Enjolras kissed my head gently. "I wouldn't have it any other way. And if we have a daughter? What should we name her?"

        I smiled. I knew just the name. "Ambrosine!" I said happily.

        Enjolras frowned. "Ambrosine?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

        "Yes!" I exclaimed. "I've always wanted a daughter named Ambrosine, ever since I was a little girl. I used to have a doll named Ambrosine when I was little."

        Enjolras shook his head. "But... isn't that name a little... I don't know... Weird?"

        "No!" I protested. "It's beautiful."

        Enjolras wasn't convinced. "What about Alexandra or Josephine?" he suggested. "Why Ambrosine?"

        "I like the name Ambrosine!"

        "I'm not naming my daughter Ambernine!"

        "Ambrosine!"

        "Whatever," Enjolras laughed. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's just focus on the wedding."

        I smiled and lay my head against his shoulder. "Okay," I said. "But I still like the name Ambrosine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Enjolras and I kept our engagement a secret for the next few weeks. We carefully planned every detail of the wedding. I soon came to find that Enjolras was an expert at planning, and foresaw every possible obstacle and accounted for it. I was confident that our wedding would be perfect. Finally, after we were sure nothing could possibly go wrong, we decided to announce our engagement. After the regular meeting at the Cafe Musain, Enjolras stood up in front of Les Amis.

        "My friends, Eponine and I have a big announcement," Enjolras said. I stood next to him and took his hand. "We are engaged to be married!"

        Everyone erupted into cheers. Jehan began dancing around the room in excitement. Grantaire raised his bottle up and drank to our future. Marius immediately gave me a friendly hug of congratulations. Then Musichetta hugged me while Joly clapped Enjolras on the back. "Congratulations," 'Chetta whispered in my ear.

        "You'll be my matron of honor?" I asked.

        "You can count on it," she replied. Then Joly took 'Chetta's hand. "'Chetta and I have good news as well," he announced.

        Musichetta smiled widely. "We're going to have a baby!" Everyone gasped and rejoiced at this happy news.

        "Bossuet," Musichetta said, "Will you be the godfather of my child?" Bossuet gave her a genuine smile.

        "I would be honored," he replied.

        "And Eponine, will you be the godmother?"

        I smiled, overwhelmed. "Of course!" I looked coyly at Enjolras. "You know," I added, loudly enough for him to hear, "If Enjolras and I have a daughter, we're going to name her Ambrosine."

        "We are not naming her Ambrosine!"

        Everyone laughed as Enjolras and I began to bicker playfully. The room was loud with joy and laughter. There was so much noise that no one heard a little voice trying to yell over the crowd.

        "Listen! Listen everybody! Listen to me!"

        "Everyone, listen to Gavroche!" Courfeyrac yelled. The room finally quieted down, and my brother took a deep breath, a somber look on his face.

        "General Lemarque is dead."