Jr Rev Squad - ONE SHOTS

After 10 Years

JRS CANON

Maria was anxious. Anxious and scared. She paced around the living room biting her lip hard and fidgeting with her corset laces nervously, her face in a worried frown.

"Is Peggy right? Gosh, is she?" That question kept running round and round in her head. For almost two months, Peggy had been suspicious about Maria's state and now she herself knew it was true. She was almost on the edge of tears as she placed her hand above her stomach, now with a bump growing each day more.

She did her best to hide it from her husband until she was sure it was real, but for a long time, Maria already felt it was. She didn't think it would happen. After almost 10 years married, both of them thought she would never get pregnant, and Maria was grateful for it. She was scared of what could happen to both her and the baby. But there she was.

Maria heard the front door being unlocked and opened right after, snapping her away from her deep thoughts "Hello, mon cher" Lafayette smiled warmly but Maria stood with her back facing him as she took a deep breath.

"Hey, Gilbert..." She said quietly looking down "I... I have to talk with you" Maria looked at him from over her shoulder and saw how worried he looked as he walked to her quickly, rubbing her shoulders as he grabbed them.

"What happened, ma perle? Is everything alright?" He asked scanning her body after any injuries but she shook her head slightly as he kept on talking "Is Georges ok? IS SUSAN OK?!" He shouted the last part looking up at her, even more concerned than before at the thought of his precious step-daughter being hurt.

"They are alright, Gil" She said assuring him with a tiny smile, making him sigh in relief.

"But... What's wrong then?"

Maria sighed and took his hand, guiding him to the sofa and sitting down. She hesitated, still holding Lafayette's hand as she looked at her lap, not being able to look at his face until she finally spoke "Gil, I... I am going to say something to you that I never told anyone before and... I don't quite know where to start or how..."

He caressed her cheek, giving her support to go on. She closed her eyes and held his hand close to her face, sighing before continuing "I... A long time ago, when I was still with James..." Lafayette fell serious at the mention of the man who caused his girls so much suffering in the past, but did not interrupt her. In the meantime, Maria felt hard to speak due to the feeling of crying building up in her throat "I... I... I had a miscarriage"

She started crying and right away he hugged her, caressing her back and head softly as she soaked his coat "I had no idea, mon amour... I-"

"It-" She sobbed, interrupting him "It was actually three..."

"Three...?" He repeated, quietly but shocked. That wasn't normal, was it? She tried to wipe the tears away but more took their places quickly as she sobbed. Lafayette then took a handkerchief from his pocket and tried to dry her tears. After a bit, she started to calm down and took the handkerchief from him, also backing away softly from the embrace she was in, and finished to dry her tears as she continued to speak.

"Well... It... It isn't easy. It wasn't back then and until this day-" She closed her eyes and bit her lip, forcing herself to not cry again, taking shaky breaths she continued with the voice cracking "Until this day I wonder how would it be like if... If he wasn't there. How my babies would look like... Would any of them look like him? Was any of them a boy or..." She took another shaky breath and said in tears "How would it be like if he hadn't murdered them!"

Lafayette grabbed her shoulders to steady her and spoke in a strong and concerned voice "Wait. Wait, what do you mean by that, Marie?"

She sniffed and looked up at him "You know how he was like, Gilbert. And let's say... He wasn't happy at all with the news... And said it was my fault those mistakes happened. And... Those were the-" She hugged herself and shrugged, her voice rising one or two octaves "The times he would beat me up with more wrath... It was so painful, Gil! The hours after it were-" Her own sobs stopped her sentence "Were the worst in my entire life! And I was all alone to deal with the baby, I-I-I still don't know how I managed to see-" She was ugly crying when Gilbert started to cover her face with unstoppable caring kisses, interrupting her from finishing that sentence.

She was so glad he did.

He then pulled her to his chest again and they spent a good half an hour like that, in silence, just the sound of Maria's crying slowing disappearing and Lafayette's silent tears rolling as he comforted her. After that time passed, he asked softly "But... What about Susan?"

"She... She was a miracle, Gil... I got pregnant once before her, but-" She interrupted herself, sniffed against his chest as she held him tightly "Well... I passed through all those nine months carrying Susan without James touching a finger in me. I still don't understand what changed his mind but... He said that wanted that child. Finally... I wasn't alone anymore... I had a reason..."

"A reason for what, mon amour?" Lafayette asked kissing her head, placing his own head above hers after it.

"To live" She whispered. The pregnancy after Susan was the toughest one and she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell Lafayette the truth about that, but her Frenchman was way too smart and asked reluctantly "Ma perle... I need you to tell me the truth and I promise that I won't get mad at you" Maria tensed up, not ready for the question he was about to ask "Any of these kids... Were supposed to be Alexander's?"

Maria's silence was enough to answer him. The jealousy bug was messing with his insides and made him bubble in anger, as it always did when he thought about what happened between the two of them. The worst of everything was the thought of Alexander having a child with Maria, but he, her husband, the man she loved, wasn't able to. But he kept his promise and didn't get angry at her.

"I'm sorry, Gilbert..." She whispered crying silently, still hugging him tightly like he would disappear at any moment now "It- I- You know I couldn't control it... And when James found out..."

Lafayette shushed her, caressing her hair "Je t'ai promis. It's ok, mon cher..."

They spent a while more like that. Both in pure silence again, him caressing her hair slowly and processing all the information until he managed to swallow every trace of jealousy and exhaled sadly, asking quietly "Does Susan remember of any of it?..."

"No... She was only four. But I have my doubts about the last time... She was almost six and I went through the two first trimesters... I remember she was so excited. She used to kiss my huge belly every morning and wish her baby brother a good day" Maria giggled at the memory, but quickly fell serious again and whispered "Still... What scares me the most now... Is all because of that third miscarriage..."

"Why would you be scared, mon amour?" He asked confused and she hesitated, so he asked, "What happened in the third one?"

"It... Simply happened. It wasn't because of James. It was just... Me" Maria bit her lip nervously.

"And may I ask why after the 10 years we've been married, you've only decided to tell me all of this now?" He asked softly, rubbing her back as she sighed deeply "I will be here doesn't matter what, mon cher... You can tell me anything"

Maria straightens her posture, taking a deep breath with closed eyes and then opened them to look straight into Lafayette's.

"Gilbert, I am pregnant" She spills out and his jaw dropped open "A-And I am scared to the core because-" Her voice started to crack again but Lafayette's soft touch on her cheek made her stop talking. His shiny eyes and warm contagious smile close to her face, with any slight trace of jealousy or anger far away from his mind, made her relax.

"Marie, it will be alright. I promise. This time, you will have the most amazing time carrying this baby... Nothing bad is going to happen to either of you" His own eyes started to tear up as he kept talking with that same smile stuck on his face "And I never thought this could happen after all that time but- Marie, je t'aime tellement, ma femme magnifique" He finished his sentence kissing her tenderly, making every and each of her worries flew away.

They locked their foreheads still smiling and Maria giggled in true happiness for the first time in weeks before saying sweetly "Je t'aime aussi, mon cher" Which just made Gilbert smiles even wider. He loved to hear her speaking in French; it was just as good as hearing a chorus of angels singing.

Either of them though they would be able to move over (or even be free from) their last partners, or make their family work with two completely different kids having to suddenly live together with a new parent figure around, or get through the rumors around the city, or not cause complete chaos with Lafayette's friends. But especially, they never thought they would be able to have a child of their own. But there they found themselves. Giggling at the sofa, making plans for the baby that would be born in a few months.