The Prisoner

Chapter 34

"Hugo get back here. Papa will be cross" cried the girl.
"He won't find out" replied the boy with a mischievous smile.
"He told us not to wander off" said the girl with a glare. The boy shrugged his shoulders and ran off with a younger boy running after him. The girl groaned and didn't move. Rules were made to be followed. She closed her blue eyes tightly and thought of what to do. She would need to go after them of course. Meanwhile, the two boys were running so quickly that they didn't notice a tall man standing at the end of the road. The youngest of the two crashed into him and fell. The eldest pulled him up by the shoulder and looked up at the man.
"Papa will be cross" cried the girl from the end of the street.
"Papa? You have a father?" Asked the man.
"'Course we do. Everyone has a father. Lilith over there, she calls him papa. But Pierre and I, we call him father. Only girls call their fathers papa" said the older boy quickly.
"What's your name?" Asked the man.
"Hugo, sir" Hugo replied politely.
"And what does your father work as?" The man's questions were making the boys uncomfortable.
"Father is a police inspector" replied Pierre smartly. Hugo nodded his head vigorously.
"He is? What is his name?" Inquired the man.
"His name is Inspector Javert" replied the girl who had just joined her brothers. The man visibly started at her reply but he quickly recovered.
"I wasn't aware that the inspector had children"
"Well, he obviously does. Come on Hugo. It was nice meeting you sir" Lilith answered sarcastically. The three children made their way back home. They knocked loudly on the door and their mother opened while smiling brightly.
"Come in. Your father is back from work" she said.
"Where is he?" Asked Lilith excitedly.
"In his room" replied Rose. She watched as her three children climbed the stairs quickly, each one of them eager to see their father. Lately, Javert was always busy and they rarely got to see him. She heard her children's laughs and Rose went upstairs to join their conversation. Javert was sitting on the bed with Pierre on his lap. Lilith was laying down on the bed and was curled up to her father's side and Hugo was sitting on the chair next to the bed. Rose walked in and kissed Hugo on his forehead.
"Who do you love most out of all of us?" Asked Lilith while sitting up.
"We love all of you the same" replied Javert. Lilith smiled at his response and curled up to his side once more.
"Everyone go to your rooms until dinner" said Javert while putting Pierre on the floor. They ran out of the room and Javert smiled at Rose when they were alone. Rose sat down on the edge of the bed and kissed him on the lips.
"I really like this" he said.
"Like what?" She asked while cupping his cheek with her hand.
"This family life. And the new house is good too" he explained.
"It's a good life. But can you believe how fast the time had gone. Hugo is fourteen now. I can still the remember the day he was born on like it was just yesterday" she said. Javert nodded.
Hugo hadn't changed at all. He was still the spit of his father. The three children all had the same blue eyes and the two boys both had dimples on their chins. Pierre had a dimple on his right cheek that was visible when he smiled like his mother. Hugo had the personality of his mother. He was energetic, mischievous, and quite rebellious. Lilith was the complete opposite. She was exactly like her father. She followed the rules, and was very passionate about anything she believed in. She also had a glare that could frighten any grown man. Pierre acted like Hugo. Anything Hugo did, he did too. Pierre was a the youngest of the three. He had his father's blue eyes and his hair was exactly the same shade as his mother's. The same went for Lilith. She also had her father's eyes and her mother's hair. Hugo was the one that was the same copy of his father.
"Marius came over a few days ago. I forgot to tell you" she informed him.
"He did?"
"Yes, I just said that didn't I?" She replied sarcastically. Spending so much time with Javert had given her quite a sarcastic tone. "He has Eponine and Fantine now. They played with Lilith but I could see that she could barely stand them" said Rose while laughing.
"She is my daughter after all" he replied while laughing. Rose smacked him on his shoulder lightly. She already knew that he didn't like Marius or Cosette or their children.
"I am hungry, Mother" said a small voice from the door. The two adults looked towards the source of the voice. Pierre was standing by the door which both his hands on his stomach.
"Come on then" said Javert while lifting up Pierre on his shoulder.
"You're getting old Javert. Put him down" she cried from behind him.
"No, I am not" he said shouted back. Rose walked to the end of the hallway and knocked on Hugo's door.
"What?" He shouted from inside.
"Can I come in?" She shouted from outside. The door opened and Hugo went back to sitting on the bed.
"Dinner is ready" she informed him. Hugo nodded and looked out of his window. Rose went inside and closed the door.
"What's wrong?" She asked and sat down next to him.
"What makes you think that anything is wrong?" He asked.
"Because normally you're the first one down when you hear the words 'dinner is ready'" she explained. Hugo didn't reply.
"Does Father love me?" He whispered.
"Of course he does. What makes you think he doesn't?" She gasped.
"I always feel like he loves Lilith the most" he said quietly.
"Lilith is the most like him, so of course you might get that feeling. But it's not true. He loves all of you equally. You should have seen him when you were just a child. I think that was one of the few times I had seen him truly happy. Did you know that your first word was 'papa'?"
"It was?" He asked.
"It was. He spent a whole week taunting me that you said papa before mama" she said while stroking his long hair.
"So he loves me?"
"Of course he does. Come on. The food is going to get cold" she said while leaving the room. She went down stairs with Hugo close behind her. Pierre was already eating and Javert was drinking wine. He smiled at them over his glass and they sat down in their accustomed seats. Javert was at the end of the table. Hugo and Pierre were on one said and Lilith and Rose were on the other. Javert grasped Rose's hand under the table and she smiled. Lilith was whispering something to Hugo who was getting paler by the second. Hugo glared at her and went back to eating his food. Pierre was the first to finish and he got up and stood next to Javert chair. Pierre kissed Javert on his cheek Javert chuckled while lifting him onto his lap. As Javert looked around him he realized something. He realized why ValJean had stolen that loaf of bread all these years ago. Because if any of his children were starving at this moment he would steal for them. Valjean had stolen for his nephew and Javert would do the same for any of his children. Even if the law named it illegal.