Together

Little People

Okay, I've been so excited for this chapter for so long. It's one of my favorites, honestly, even though it's really just a bit of a filler. And I even named it after the cutest song ever and the BIGGEST loss from the original production of Les Mis, just saying. (Those of you who know me know how much that's saying coming from me, as Cosette lost her solo song.) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it too. Comment/vote if you wish. xxx
-ab

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February 26, 2026

Patrick

As I'm at work, I check my schedule and notice that I have a new client coming in today. That's always exciting, to get to work with somebody new.

According to the electronic profile, it is a little boy, age nine, named Leo. It describes his injury as being a 'sports injury,' but not much more detail than that. It's common in little boys that age, so I'm not surprised.

It isn't too much longer until I hear a little voice outside of my office door and head out to investigate.

"Hi," I say to the little boy and his mum. "Are you Leo?"

"Yep."

"And you're nine years old?"

"I'm almost ten," he informs me.

"That's a good age to be. Almost ten."

Leo giggles.

"So," I turn to his mum, "it says in my file that he has a sports injury. Would you mind providing me with some more information on that?"

"Well, it isn't exactly a sports injury. Leo fell during a performance," his mum explains to me. "He sprained it very badly, but the doctor says that it isn't broken."

I'm surprised to hear a different story than what was on my records, but judging by what I see from Harper, performing is just as physically demanding as a sport, so it can be approached with similar methods.

"A performance?" I ask. I lower myself down onto the little boy's level. "What do you perform in?"

"I was Gavroche in Les Miserables," he tells me. "I got to be on a big stage in the West End."

"Oh," I nod. "I know the show very well. My wife was Cosette for quite some time, on that very same stage."

"Really?" the little boy asks with amazement. "Who is she?"

"Harper Alwyn. It was before we were married, though, so she was Harper Kennedy, then."

I notice a smile growing on the little boy's face.

"We know Miss Harper very well, don't we Leo?" his mum says.

"Yeah, but she left a little bit after I made my debut."

"That she did," I say. "She was supposed to leave at the cast change with everyone else, but some weird circumstances changed that."

"I knew that her contract was extended for a few months. We are hoping that they will extend Leo's contract like they did for Harper, so that he can recover from his injury and still get his full amount of time to play Gavroche. He's plenty under the height limit."

"I have no doubt that they will accommodate him," I say. "The entire directorial team was so good to Harper for her entire run. She went through a lot while she was playing in that show, and they were always there to support her."

"Tell Miss Harper that Leo says hi!" the little boy exclaims. "I'm her favourite Gavroche, you know."

"Oh, you are, are you?" Leo's mum laughs.

"Mhm. She told me."

I roll my eyes, smiling. I'm pretty sure that my wife told that to every single Gavroche who she ever worked with.

"Do you want me to text her right now?" I ask.

"Yeah!" Leo exclaims. I laugh and walk away to grab my phone from my office, then pull up my contacts.

Patrick: A little boy named Leo says to tell you hi. He says that he is your favourite Gavroche.

A reply comes through nearly instantly.

Harper: Oh my gosh, my buddy Leo! Tell him hi for me! Did he hurt himself?

Patrick: A common injury. It'll be an easy fix.

Harper: That's good. Leo's a sweetie. You'll love him. Have a good day xx

I tuck my phone into my back pocket. "Harper says that you are a sweetie and to tell you hi," I inform Leo, causing a giant smile to grow on his face. "Now, what do you say we get to this injury, so that we can have you all fixed up and back on that big stage before you can say, 'Do you hear the people sing?'"

Leo giggles and nods, so I instruct him to sit down on the bench. He lays his crutches down on the ground and takes a seat.

It doesn't take me too long to figure out what is going on with him. Yes, it is a badly sprained ankle, but doesn't appear to be much more- only a pretty bad bruise on his knee that will go away with time.

I set a plan with him to help his recovery and give his mum some exercises to help him with at home, then we set up another appointment. I know that it'll be an easy treatment, which makes me happy. The little boy already has my heart, and I've only had one session with him.

When I go home at the end of the day, Harper is at home, cooking up some dinner for us.

"Hey, love," she smiles.

"Hi," I say, walking over and pressing a kiss on her lips before taking a seat in one of the chairs at our dinner table.

"So, how was Leo?" she asks with a smile.

"What a cute kid," I say.

"I realized, he was actually my last Gavroche, ever."

"Whoa," I laugh. "That's so cool."

"I miss him. I miss all of the littles at Les Mis."

"You have your littles at Anastasia now," I remind her.

"Yeah, but only two. There was like nine of them at Les Mis."

"Love," I giggle, "please tell me that you do not want nine children running around our household someday."

"God, no!" She laughs. "I just like seeing them at the theatre. They're so cute and happy all of the time. Not to mention how crazy talented they all are."

I have to admit, she's right. I also know that the children bring in a large amount of revenue for the shows on the West End.

But most importantly, the kids have the time of their lives up there on that stage. That's why I know that I've got to get Leo up and performing again.