A/N: Alright, I know this update is inexcusably late. It is also the last chapter of this story. Ordinarily, I would've given you a little more warning before now, but school and life in general got in the way. So now, let me say thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed. I couldn't have kept this up without all of you. So thank you!

When Enjolras awoke the next morning, he almost got up and went to the closet for another suit, out of habit. But as he slowly woke, he remembered closing the case, and he smiled to himself. This was the first morning in quite a few when he didn't have to go to court. He snuggled in contentedly next to Éponine, who mumbled something in her sleep and nuzzled her face into his chest. "Good morning," he murmured into her hair, kissing her head.

"Mmmmh…good morning," she mumbled into his chest, her voice still quiet and heavy with sleep. He could hear the slight smile in her muffled speech, and he couldn't help but smile.

He gently reached out to brush her hair back from her face, admiring how beautiful she was when she first woke up. And I'm the one who gets to spend the rest of my life with her. "We have a big day ahead of us," he said, kissing her forehead and getting out of bed.

"Is that so?" she asked with a sleepy grin, which he promptly kissed away. "It is. It's time to tell the rest of the world that you're mine." Éponine smiled widely at her fiancé. She loved even thinking that word, fiancé. "And you're mine," she whispered.

Enjolras returned her smile, holding her face between his strong hands. "I wouldn't have it any other way," he whispered back.

Éponine gave him one more lingering kiss before rolling over and getting up. She stretched and felt Enjolras' eyes on her, so she added a little sway to her step as she sauntered to the bathroom, and heard him chuckling behind her. Good, she thought smugly to herself.

She looked in the mirror as she started to brush out her hair. The woman looking back at her didn't look any different than she had for a while, but she wasn't the same one that Éponine had seen yesterday. She was engaged.

Oh God, she was engaged.

Had anyone told her a few months ago that she was going to get married to Richard Enjolras, she would have assumed they were drunk. Before she met him, she didn't think there was any way she could marry so well. But that girl in the mirror was her, however unbelievable it seemed. And she was engaged to the man in the next room.

She heard Enjolras move around in their bedroom, and shook herself out of her daze. She needed to finish up in here and get dressed. He was right; it was going to be a very big day.

Half an hour later, they were strolling down the shopping street, and Éponine couldn't stop smiling. It felt like a dream – walking down the road with her fiancé, on their way to get a ring she would wear for the rest of her life. She never wanted to wake up from this.

They stopped in front of Haniken Jewelers, and Éponine gently squeezed Enjolras' elbow. He looked down at her, unable to stop grinning. "Ready?" he asked.

"I've been ready," she grinned, gently kissing him on the cheek. With an almost boyish grin, her fiancé squeezed the hand she had linked through his elbow, kissed her lips, and opened the door of the shop.

Éponine couldn't stop admiring her new ring. Wasn't it just that morning when she'd been thinking about how surreal it all felt? But the comforting weight on her finger made it all feel more solid, like it was actually happening.

It was a fairly simple ring, but beautiful nonetheless. It was silver, with a single diamond in the center, flanked by small swirling motifs in the band. It was the most gorgeous thing Éponine had ever seen; she fell in love with the setting – and then the diamond – as soon as the jeweler had shown them to her.

Enjolras chuckled next to her, bringing her back to the present. "Still happy with it?" he asked almost teasingly, kissing the top of her head.

She smiled. "I don't think I could be any happier if I tried," she said, letting her head gently rest on his arm as they walked. She linked her left hand through his elbow so that the diamond she wore was showing. "It still feels a bit like a dream…but it's starting to feel more real."

"I'm glad," her fiancé responded with a smile.

"Well well well, look at you two out and about again!" Joly's voice laughed. "Going back to a normal life after closing the case?" Marius, Courfeyrac, and Combeferre had joined him, smiling at their friend.

"Still working on that," Enjolras laughed, letting go of his fiancée for just a moment to embrace his friend. "What are you doing out so early? All of you, as a matter of fact," he laughed greeting each of them in turn.

"We all had some small errands to run around town and happened to run into each other," Courfeyrac answered, still smiling. "Oh, and I don't think I ever congratulated you on closing the case, but you did wonderfully!"

Enjolras grinned. "I did have some pretty great help," he said, nodding to Combeferre, "and a great support system at home," he said, kissing Éponine's head. She wrapped her left hand back around his arm the way it had been before, and Joly was the first one to notice the change.

"Wait a minute…" he said, his gaze zeroing in on Éponine's left hand.

Enjolras' eyes followed his friend's, and a furious blush rose to his cheeks, making him quickly look away from everyone around him. Éponine simply laughed, saving him by telling Joly, "You're not too far behind on current events; we only just bought it."

The Amis quickly embraced their friends, congratulating them and insisting that they go out that night, and trying to pick someone to call Azelma and Grantaire. Éponine immediately shot down that plan, insisting that she would be the one to tell her sister herself. Joly insisted on a celebration, though, and demanded that they call him when Azelma and Grantaire knew. The other Amis were immediately in agreement, and started shouting suggestions to each other about party preparations and ideas. Enjolras quickly stemmed the chaos and agreed to keep everyone informed of events as they happened.

"Well, I suppose we should find Azelma and Grantaire, shouldn't we?" Éponine laughed as their friends dispersed. "Do you think they'll be back at their apartment by now?"

Enjolras consulted his pocketwatch. "Half past nine? I suppose we could go back to our apartment to call them and see."

The phone rang just as Azelma was stepping out of the shower. "Alan, could you get that?" she called from the bathroom.

Grantaire picked up the phone that sat on the small table next to their bed. "Hello?"

"Grantaire!" Éponine's excited voice greeted him at the other end of the line. "Is Azelma up?"

"Hi, 'Ponine; she just got out of the shower," he answered, sitting down on the bed. "What can we do for you?"

Éponine tried not to giggle too much on the other end of the line. "Well, we were wondering if you were busy today. Richard and I were realizing that the four of us haven't spent any time together since you two got engaged.

…She never calls him Richard, Grantaire thought to himself. "I'll talk to Azelma and see if we have anything planned," he said. "I'll call you back as soon as I know."

"Great. Thanks!"

"See you soon," he replied, hanging up the phone.

"Who was that?" Azelma asked, stepping out of the bathroom.

"Your sister," her husband laughed, standing up from the bed. "Apparently, she and Richard want to see us today."

Azelma raised an eyebrow. "She actually called him Richard? Something's definitely up," she said, going to the large chest of drawers to find a dress for the day. "Well, when do you want to meet them? Lunch sounds good to me."

Grantaire nodded. "That'll work. I'll call her back."

Éponine was almost nervous when they arrived outside the bistro. Obviously, her sister and brother-in-law would be happy for her and her fiancé, but something was still nagging at her…

"Hey, you alright?" Enjolras asked, gently rubbing her shoulder. Something about her mood must have shown on her face.

She smiled at her sweetheart. He always knew when something was bothering her. "I'm fine," she assured him. "Just a little nervous about meeting Azelma and Alan. I'm not really sure why."

He kissed the top of her head gently. "Just relax."

"I think we've both gotten so used to living on the edge of a metaphorical razor blade that it's become a foreign concept," she snorted as they arrived.

"You can say that again," Enjolras muttered, briefly thinking of the grueling trial he'd endured, before shoving it to the back of his mind. He had the woman he loved at his side, and soon she was going to be his wife. He was truly happy now.

After they checked in, they quickly spotted Alan and Azelma waving to them from a corner table. Éponine made a point of keeping her left hand concealed as they walked over and embraced the pair, everyone exchanging greetings.

"Now, I don't mean to insinuate that we weren't delighted by your summons," Alan chuckled, "but I think I speak for both of us when I say we're a little curious as to why it came so out of the blue."

Éponine barely managed to keep from giggling like a little schoolgirl. "Wellllllllll…"

Azelma gasped. "No…really?!" she asked, her eyes wide, but dancing with mirth.

Alan frowned at his wife. "What?" he said, looking back and forth between the sisters. "Am I missing something?"

Éponine couldn't help herself any longer. With a huge grin crossing her face, she wordlessly let her left hand fly free of her lap, showing off the ring to both of them. Grantaire grinned. "I knew it wouldn't be too long before you followed in our footsteps! Congratulations," he said enthusiastically, even getting up to give his future sister-in-law a hug and clap his friend on the back.

Azelma didn't hesitate to follow his example. "I'm glad you're finally joining the family," she said to Enjolras, giving him a hug.

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine," Enjolras responded with a smile, hugging her back. He was glad to have a family who would accept him after he'd worked so tirelessly to put his own father in jail – even if it was justified.

"Come on, let us buy you lunch," Grantaire said with a broad grin as everyone sat back down.

"Alan, I couldn't possibly – "

"You did the same thing for us when we got engaged, did you not?" Azelma said with a smile. "Let us return the favor."

Enjolras conceded with a smile. As he watched his friend converse eagerly with Éponine, he couldn't help but notice how much he had changed. Briefly, he wondered if he had changed as much, before scoffing at the thought. Of course he had changed. Possibly more so than his friend.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Éponine said softly, breaking him from his reverie and putting her hand in his elbow.

"Just…noticing how much we've all changed," he said softly.

"And a good thing it is, too," Grantaire said jovially. He held up his glass to offer a toast. "To change. And to family."

"And to love," Azelma added, smiling at her sister.

"To happiness," Éponine added.

"And to a new life together," Enjolras concluded, never taking his eyes off his new fiancée. As their four glasses clinked together, Enjolras knew, without a doubt, that his life was irrevocably changed. But he wouldn't change it for the world.

A/N: That's a wrap, everybody! Please review one last time, and thank you for keeping up with me on this little adventure. Stay posted for a sequel!

Thank you, and much love to you all,

-MaryEvH