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

Chapter 1

The sound of children's hands beating on the door grew louder and louder, as more children gathered around the door, their small hands trying to reach the doorknob and horribly failing at doing so, along with " la mère!  la mère!  la mère! " being chanted over and over again.

Meanwhile, behind the door, Esmeralda sat on the edge of the bathtub, her knees trembling, hands in her lap, her eyes focused on the corner of the sink, where a pregnancy test stick sat. She felt herself sweat from how anxious she was feeling, not from the fact that she might be pregnant again, but she was just simply overwhelmed with having 4 children already, another one would be a tad bit overwhelming, but nonetheless, she'd be more then happy to have another baby, as she always wanted a big family.

Cautiously, she picked up the pregnancy test, her hands trembling with anticipation as she looked at the stick, her eyes widen, as on the stick, were two pink lines.

A shaky sigh escaped her lips as she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes and slowly fall down her face. Her lips curled into a soft smile as she let out a quiet giggle. She placed the stick on her lap as she used her pink scarf to tie her hair up and out of her face.

" Oh man, Quasi isn't gonna believe this, saying he'd be surprised would be a huge understatement " Esmeralda said quietly to herself as she stood up, pregnancy test in hand, yet hidden behind her back.

She cautiously opened the door, not to her surprise that her 4 other children were still there, albeit, on the floor, playing with their toys or reading books that were turned upside down.

Esmeralda sighed as she looked at all of them " Seems like you all found much more interesting things to do then bothering la mère while she was in the bathroom " she quietly muttered, as to make sure that they didn't hear her, but lord knows that one of them could've heard her yet not even noticed her.

Esmeralda walked down a hallway and made her way to Quasi's small wood carving room, where he sat on a small stool, carving small houses and the occasional animal, just to make the little town seem a little bit more ' alive '. Quasimodo wasn't THAT  focused on his surroundings, as he was 100 percent focused on his little wood carvings, it was something that Esmeralda always loved about Quasimodo, that whatever he was focused on, he wouldn't dare look away or get distracted by anything else, unless it was super important that needed his attention.

Despite being focused on his wood carvings, the sound of Esmeralda's slippers on the hard wood floor caught his attention, his head perked up from the little wooden cat he was nearly done carving.

" Oh? H-hey Esmeralda! is everything okay? I heard banging on a door " Quasimodo spoke, turning himself so he could face Esmeralda while he was still holding the small wooden cat.

" Everything's alright, Quasi. It was just the little ones, they wanted to come into the bathroom while i was in there. No big deal " Esmeralda responded, a warm smile spread across her face.

" Ah, figured they'd do that. Anyways, what's up? " Quasimodo asked, his eyes focused on the little wooden cat, trying to make sure that he didn't accidentally cut his finger or hand with the carving knife he held.

Esmeralda smiled as she placed the pregnancy test on Quasi's arm, which caught his attention after he did a double take on what exactly Esmeralda had placed on his arm.

After placing down the small wooden cat and the carving knife down on his little table, he picked up the pregnancy test, focusing on it for a good second or two, his eyes widen in shock, he picked his head up, a smile formed on his face as he felt himself fill up with overwhelming joy.

" Esmeralda... A-are you serious? " Quasimodo asked excitedly, he began to flap his hands excitedly.

Esmeralda smiled widely as she nodded " Yes, Quasi. I'm serious! I'm pregnant! " 

Quasimodo could've jumped all the way to the moon with how much joy was flowing through him. He jumped up out of his seat, which inadvertently knocked it over as well, he then ran to Esmeralda and hugged her, trying to be careful of her abdomen area, just so he wouldn't hurt her nor the developing baby inside her.

Esmeralda giggled quietly as she returned the hug, she gently ran her fingers through Quasimodo's hair " I'm already wondering what it's gonna be like " she remarked.

" Oh? " Quasi spoke " what do you mean by that? " he looked up at Esmeralda, a confused look on his face.

" well... " Esmeralda began " I'm wondering what it's gonna be like with the kids already, y'know? I kind of feel like it'll be very hectic, as we already have 4 toddlers " 

Quasimodo thought about it for a quick moment " Well, who knows? maybe they'd all get along! or... maybe they would try to start a toddler fight club " 

Esmeralda went silent for a quick moment, before she burst out in loud laughter. Why, she was laughing so hard that tears were forming in her eyes. She eventually calmed herself down, she placed on of her hands on her hip to calm herself down as her sides hurt a little from how hard she had laughed.

The two then left the room and went to the living room, where the four toddlers were, albeit, they were all doing different things.

Micheal, the eldest quadruplet, was stacking wooden blocks on top of one another and knocking them down while he made roaring, monster-like noises. Micheal had deep auburn hair, that was short and messy, he had dull green eyes and he wasn't that tall compared to his siblings.

Charlotte, the second quadruplet, was simply laying on the floor, she was chewing on a rubber ball that she and her siblings would play with. Charlotte has somewhat long, curly brown hair, her left eye were a bright green, while her right eye seemed a lot more dull, as she was blind in her right eye.

Felix, the third quadruplet, was staring at the T.V, as some cartoons played. Felix had short, messy black hair, his spine was misshapen on the right side of his body, as it was clearly visible that he too would also have back issues, much like his father. His eyes were a bright blue-green color, he also had a small anklet on his left ankle.

Jade, the final quadruplet, was holding a plush frog and a plush zebra, making them fight against each other, and wasn't really paying attention to her siblings. Jade had long auburn hair, emerald green eyes, and a small scar on her belly, as she had to get a minor surgery when she was a newborn.

Esmeralda let out a quiet sigh, her lips forming into a small smile as she watched her's and Quasimodo's children all play around, she felt herself becoming filled with serotonin as the sight of her children all playing made her happy.

" You think they'll get along with the new baby once their born? " Esmeralda asked, her head tilted to the side ever so slightly.

Quasimodo thought about it for a moment " Maybe " he said " But i guess because they're still toddlers, they won't remember it too much "

" Maybe so " Esmeralda responded " A lot of people don't really remember much from when they were toddlers, like how i don't remember much from my own childhood, other then a few incidents that happened " A quiet sigh escaped pass Quasimodo's lips as his gaze fell down to the floor, his arms crossed as he looked down at the floor, a sadden expression on his face, to which, Esmeralda took instant notice of. Quasimodo turned himself away and walked back to his wood carving room.

Esmeralda sighed quietly as she slumped down on the couch, her arms by her side as a worried expression formed on her face. She then felt a tug on her skirt as she noticed that Jade was trying to get her attention. She picked Jade up and gently sat her on her lap, gently running her fingertips through Jade's long yet somewhat curly hair.

Jade looked up at her mom, her childish brain not really understanding why her mom seemed worried " la mère? is le père okay? " She muttered out, seeming to take notice that her dad was sad.

" I'm not sure, Mon bébé, let me go check on him, okay ? " Esmeralda spoke as she carefully placed Jade back on the floor, making sure to not accidentally knock her into her siblings or accidentally drop Jade onto any wooden toys. Jade however, didn't wanna leave Esmeralda, as her tiny hands gripped onto her mom's long skirt, trying to hang onto the fabric, to no avail, as Esmeralda's skirt slipped right through Jade's tiny grasp.

Esmeralda walked back to Quasimodo's carving room, where he sat on his stool, this time, he wasn't carving anything, rather, he was simply fidgeting with one of his wooden animals that was carved to completion yet wasn't painted yet. Quasi's expression seemed more sadden, as if he was about to cry.

" Quasi..? is everything alright? " Esmeralda asked, her tone seemed to be a mixture of worried and sad at the same time.

Quasimodo didn't look up, rather, he kept his eyes focused on the little wooden figure he was holding in his hands, his expression was now more saddened and distressed then anything, as if he was either about to cry or breakdown in someway.

He then began to speak, albeit, it was whispered and barely understandable.

" I... " he began " My head hurts... everything seems to hurt, and all i can see in my head, is Him "

Esmeralda felt her chest tighten a little, she knew what was about to happen, this was rather routine, in a way, and she knew what to do, as she walked over to a small dresser, where she pulled out a weighted blanket. She walked back to Quasimodo as she carefully wrapped the blanket around him, which did comfort him just a little, but not fully.

" He won't leave me alone... I can't take it anymore! He makes my head hurt and then i feel sick and i just want to cry and- " Quasimodo exclaimed, his tone seemed frantic and afraid, like a young child describing a nightmare to their parents in the dead of night.

Esmeralda sat right next to Quasimodo, her hand gently clasping his and trying to help him calm down, which wasn't working as much as she hoped it would.

" Please... Just make him go away..! " Quasimodo exclaimed as he was sobbing uncontrollably, his hands tangled in his hair as his head rested against his table and his shoulders shuddered with every sob he let out.