" I just wanna be myself " (A Hunchback Of Notre Dame fanstory)

Chapter 17

After Yasmine was born, everyone in the family seemed to know what to do. Everyone knew their roles and knew how to help with a newborn baby.

Esmeralda and Quasimodo mainly took care of Yasmine. From feeding her, to changing her, bathing her, and playing with her. Sometimes Aisha and Adeem would help too, as they had grown close with the family due to their children's friendship, and plus, they absolutely loved little Yasmine.

Micheal, Charlotte, Felix, and Jade all adored their new sister. They all treated her as if she was made of glass; Gently and with great care. They all loved her little outfits, from the little overalls, to the little socks and mittens, even to the small ruffles and bows that adorned her outfits

Edgar was very happy to be a big sibling now, he also treated Yasmine as if she was made of glass. Always asking for permission to hold her, and making sure that he supported her head and neck. He thought that Yasmine was like a doll; Fragile, and needed to be handled with extreme care, which thankfully, he knew how to be gentle with her, besides, he was far too afraid of hurting her.

Natsuo, Gary, and Fatima also loved Yasmine, as when they all met her, they thought she was adorable. They didn't believe their parents whenever their parents would say ' Oh, you were small like that too! '.

Yasmine earned herself the nickname of " Ma fraise " which means " My Strawberry " On the account of her bright auburn hair, everyone thought she looked like a little strawberry.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months.

The children all started getting older, Edgar and his friends all turned 6 years old, and the quadruplets all turned 10. Edgar and his friends all moved up from kindergarten to 1st grade, and his siblings all moved up from 4th grade to 5th grade. And boy oh boy did school seem to get harder and harder for the kids, which it was.

Yasmine went from a small little newborn to a chubby 7 month old, her hair got thicker and her skin got darker, she could also now roll over, but should never roll back over once she rolled onto her back, however, she could roll back over if she rolled onto her belly.


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An exhausted sigh escaped past Natsuo's lips as his vision went blurry, loosing focus on his English assignment, his head was starting to hurt. He hadn't written much on the paper aside from very few words, he just... Couldn't think of anything.

" You okay, Natsuo? " Fatima asked, looking over at her friend " You dunno what to do, Huh? "

Natsuo nodded in response " My head hurts, i dunno what to do. What did the teacher say again? " He placed his pencil down on his table before burying his head in his arms.

Edgar shrugged, he didn't know either.

Sure, The kids all paid attention, but any and all information that the teacher had told them didn't register in their heads, it's like their brain turned off the minute the teacher started speaking, and the teacher really didn't like that.

" Psst... pssst..! Gary! " Edgar muttered out, catching his friends attention " What did Mr. Davis say again? "

Gary shrugged his shoulders " I dunno, something about his nose? Maybe something about the book we read? "

" Well... " Natsuo spoke " It is almost time to go home, me and my Chichi are going to the movies, and he is gonna take me to Mcdonalds! "

" Hey! " A loud man's voice exclaimed " Listen you four, i know your parents don't teach you all much because you're... in their own words ' special '! " He did air quotations as he spoke to Edgar and his friends " You all need to pay attention more, this is school here, you don't get to goof off and talk to one another once you enter middle school- "

Before he could continue, the sound of the bell ringing echoed throughout the building. All the children packed up their things and beelined out the door, Edgar and his buddies following the group as they entered the hallway and headed towards the main entrance.

Micheal looked over at his younger sibling and nudged them " Was Mr. Davis mean to you guys again? " He asked, cocking an eyebrow in confusion " I can tell when you aren't happy, tell me, was he mean to you? "

Edgar nodded, looking down at the ground " H-he yelled at Us, he yelled at us " He quietly repeated " He yelled at us. "

" You gotta be kidding me! " Micheal exclaimed, rubbing his temples out of annoyance " He's always picking on you guys, and it is only September! "

Charlotte shrugged as she picked Edgar up and continued to walk down the hallway " Everyone has a mean teacher in school, But Mr. Davis is another kind of mean " She let out a sigh.

Fatima and Gary both nodded in agreement " He's mean to us! H-he only yells at us! " Gary exclaimed, gripping his cane tightly in his hand, shaking it out of pure anger " He never yells at Brody of his friends! Never! "

Jade shook her out of disappointment as she cracked her neck and snapped her fingers at the same time " I heard he's really mean- Ding Ding! " She exclaimed, one of her tics getting in the way of speaking " He's rude, isn't he? He yells so loudly, we can hear him all the way from Mrs. Samantha's class! "

Natsuo nodded " He's loud, it hurts my head when he yells. "

Charlotte shook her head in disappointment " He's a big butt-head! He doesn't stop yelling at you guys at all, does he? " 

The children all agreed that Mr. Davis was the worst teacher as they all went to their parents and went about their days, getting home, doing their homework, which was a daily struggle for them all, their heads would often hurt as they tried to get their homework done. The four friends just... Couldn't understand why their homework made their heads hurt. Sure, they could get it done after nearly 2 hours, but at the same time, they just... didn't understand it half the time.


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Thankfully, when home, Edgar didn't have much to worry about. His dad had recently bought him a gaming system to hook up to his small T.V in his room, which he played daily, almost everyday after school, and practically all day on the weekends.

" Bonjour, Mon Ange. " Quasimodo spoke, catching Edgar's attention " How was school? "

Edgar shrugged " Is Okay, Papa. But, Mr. Davis yelled at us again... " He looked down at his carpet, not bothering to pause the game he was playing " He's... so yell-y at us, he.. He said you don't teach us..? " He sounded confused and sad, he just didn't know why his teacher was so rude to him or his friends. 

Quasimodo sighed as he sat next to his child and gave them a gentle hug " He always yells at you and your friends, doesn't he? " He asked, Edgar nodding in response " Have you tried telling... " He stopped himself before he could finish his sentence, knowing that the principal of Edgar's school was Brody's dad, and he knew that he wouldn't do anything against a mean teacher.

" You wanna see Yasmine? " Quasimodo asked " Will she make you feel better? " He gently nudged his child.

Edgar paused his game and nodded, his lips curling into a soft smile " Oui! Oui! " He quickly stood up, only to get dizzy and slumped back down on the floor, his right leg curling underneath his body.

Quasimodo giggled quietly and picked up Edgar before carrying him to his bedroom, where Esmeralda sat on the bed, talking to Yasmine, whom was laying on a blanket on the bed.

" Hey you two! " Esmeralda spoke " Someone wanted to see his little sister? " Edgar nodded at his mothers question as he was placed on the bed.

Edgar smiled as he looked at his baby sister, who looked over at him and stuck her tongue out at him " She loves me " He said as he gently took her hand in his, carefully moving it up and down " a-and she is very adorable and small! " 

Esmeralda smiled " Oh, Mon Ange, you were just as small as she was, in fact, i think you were a lot smaller than her! " She then looked under her bed and pulled out a box that was practically filled to the brim with old photos " See, these four are your older siblings when they were all babies. "

The photo was somewhat grainy, but it was clear enough to make out four tiny babies, all sprawled out on the floor in nothing but their diapers and mittens on their hands. Edgar couldn't make out which sibling was which, but thankfully, his Parent pointed each one out.

Esmeralda pulled out another photo, this one of Edgar himself " Ah, here you are! " She exclaimed, handing the photo to her child " That's you as a newborn, see how small you were then? "

Edgar examined the photo, he seemed... Confused? There's no way this baby could've been him, at least he didn't think so. The baby in the picture was small, extremely pale, and was slightly chubby. The baby's hair was slightly hidden due to a beanie on his head, and there were mittens on his hands as well.

" That Me? " Edgar asked, tilting his head in confusion " Why is the baby... white? " He was genuinely confused on how he was so pale and small as a baby.

Esmeralda and Quasimodo held back their laughter from their child's question. They just thought the way he phrased it made it hilarious.

" Well, all babies are pale when they are born, just like you! " Esmeralda explained " They don't get any melanin in their skin until... Say a few days or a couple weeks after they are born, it's like that with a lot of babies. "

Edgar looked back at the picture of him as a baby then looked at his parent " I was tiny " He spoke " J-just like Yasmine! " He then placed the picture of him down and crawled over to Yasmine, laying down next to her, gently holding her hand " You're small and cute " He spoke.

Yasmine smiled a gummy smile, drool coming out of the corners of her mouth as she took Edgar's hand and began to gently ' chew ' on it, getting his hand covered in drool and saliva. Sure, Edgar was slightly grossed out, especially by the feeling of it, but it was his little sister, and she didn't know any better, so he tried to grin and bear it the best he could.

" Hey, Ma Fraise, Your sibling isn't food, you can't eat them! " Esmeralda spoke as she took Edgar's hand out on Yasmine's mouth and gave her a small rubber toy to chew on, which she did but with a somewhat confused look on her face.

" I could be food to her, maybe i-i taste good! " Edgar spoke as his parent cleaned his hand off with a small rag " M-maybe i t-t-taste good! "

That's when Felix and Charlotte practically ran into their parents bedroom, a panicked look on their faces, as if they had seen a ghost, their bodies shaking as they looked at each other then back at their parents.

" Hey you two! " Esmeralda exclaimed " What's up? You two- " She cut herself off, she already knew the answer " Is it Brody again? "

The two children nodded " He's bothering Fatima now! " Felix exclaimed as he pointed towards the front door " Or... he was, then Fatima's mom yelled at him! It was scary, but it was also cool! She got all loud and mean at him, she called him a... what was it again Charlotte? She called him a... uhm... " Felix scratched his head, trying his best to remember.

" I think she called him a ' Donkey ' or something? " Charlotte said, tilting her head " Yeah, Yeah. She called him a ' Donkey ' "

Esmeralda snorted as she leaned over to Quasimodo and whispered " That's an insult to Donkey's everywhere, cause at least donkey's are cute, Brody isn't "

Quasimodo covered his mouth as he let out a stifled laugh, he didn't want to find that funny, yet, it was.

Edgar giggled quietly before looking back down at Yasmine, who was staring up at him, making ' Grabby ' hands at him, she wanted him to pick her up and hold her. Carefully, Edgar picked up Yasmine and held her close to his body, remembering to support her neck and head.

" You look like a strawberry " Edgar told Yasmine, who giggled back at him " A perfect strawberry! " He gently kissed Yasmine's cheek, making her giggle.


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" Yeah, everyone ate well, Tuyen " Esmeralda spoke to the other woman on the phone, her voice quiet and soft as she spoke.

It was late, around 11 P.M, everyone had eaten dinner, gotten a bath and/or a shower, and had gotten changed into their pajamas and went off to sleep. The only reason why Esmeralda was awake at such a late hour was because Yasmine had woken up hungry and started wailing.

" Gary has mentioned that some kid's been bullying him, I think his name is... Brody? Is that correct? " Tuyen spoke. The only reason why Tuyen was awake was because she had a lot of important papers she needed to work on, and her husband was sleeping.

Esmeralda nodded as she slightly adjusted herself into a much more comfortable position for feeding Yasmine " Yeah, yeah. He's a little white boy, he thinks he's all that cause his father is the principle of the school, which doesn't mean shit. " She said.

" Watch this, Bet you that Brody is gonna grow up the kind of kid that'll be a bigot to everyone that isn't like him or his family " Tuyen remarked as she placed a stack of papers down on ther desk before typing on her home computer " He isn't a good kid, but maybe he could change or something? "

Esmeralda sighed as she gently patted Yasmine's back, trying to get her to burp " I'm gonna be very straight-forward with you, Tuyen, and feel free to disagree if ya want, I don't think Brody is gonna change. The way he treats Edgar and his friends, i highly doubt he'll change, but if he does, I don't know if my child could forgive him for it. "

Tuyen sighed as she nodded " I believe it " She said, taking a sip of her tea " I honestly believe everyone is capable  of change, but if Brody keeps this up, i don't think he'll change. "

Yasmine let out a burp as Esmeralda stopped patting her back " I agree, Tuyen. I agree with you. Everyone is capable of change, i know that much. But, something about Brody doesn't really sit right with me. And i really don't like saying that about a child. "

Tuyen nodded in agreement, a quiet sigh escaping past her lips as she continued to work on her important paper.

The two women continued to talk until Esmeralda finally got Yasmine back to sleep at 1:43 A.M. After which, the two hung up and went off back to bed, they were both exhausted from everything. Work, School, Kids, and just life in general, and they both deserved some well rested sleep.

But boy oh boy, were they right about Brody... He would never change.