AN: This is the first time Fantine has featured in any of my 31 Les Miserables fics.
Birthmark
Fantine
The first time Fantine noticed her daughters birthmark was when her little one was just two months old, she was changing her nappy when she noticed the mark. It was a small dark brown spot on the left of her hips, not raised like a mole but almost like it was painted onto her.
"You have a birthmark my darling girl" Fantine told her baby, "I wonder why that is?"
She pondered on this for a moment, "I don't think I have any birthmarks, nor did your father…"
Fantine stopped mid-sentence as she remembered Euphrasies father, Felix. She looked at her baby and tears began to well up in her eyes, this happened often when she looked at her actually, although she had been learning to control her feelings more lately and managed not to sob uncontrollably this time as she had done previously.
Sometimes Fantine felt like it was hard to love her baby, because she reminded her of Felix and the shame he'd left her in by getting her pregnant and leaving her. But she tried so hard to remember that it wasn't her dear Euphrasies fault, none of it was her fault, she was innocent in all of this. It was a horrible thought, but sometimes Fantine was so glad she'd given birth to a girl because she didn't know if she would be able to love a boy the same way she loved Euphrasie, after all men brought nothing but trouble with them.
"I'm sorry; I wish I could have given you a real father. You deserved a real family". Fantine said sadly.
She shook those thoughts from her mind as she finished cleaning up and dressing her baby again; she picked her up and then held her close to her body.
"Never mind him my beautiful Cosette" she whispered to her, using the nickname she had recently become enamoured with. "You're my Cosette and you're a very special little girl".
Valjean
The first time Valjean noticed his daughters birthmark was a week after he had rescued her from the Thenardiers. He had just finished bathing her one evening before her bedtime and was drying her off with a towel when he noticed it on her hip.
The poor dear thing had been so dirty the first time he had bathed her it was impossible to tell what was dirt and what was part of her, in fact it had taken multiple baths to actually get her looking like a normal child, so tonight whilst she stood by the fire with a towel wrapped around her waist was the first time Valjean noticed it.
"You have a birthmark my dear girl" Valjean said,
"What's a birthmark?" she asked innocently
"This, right here." He said, touching the mark on her hip gently. "It's called a birthmark"
Cosette twisted her head to her left and looked down, she was still confused as she had never been taught about her body by anyone and didn't know what it meant.
"But what is it?" she asked again
"Oh don't worry, it's nothing really. Some people have them and some people don't, it's just a little mark on your skin that's all. You've probably had it since you were a baby" Valjean told her, but she still didn't seem to understand.
So he tried his best to explain it to her that night as he helped her dress into her nightgown for bed. He always did this, even though they both knew she was old enough and capable enough to do it herself, but it made Valjean feel like a real father to do it and Cosette like a real little girl.
He explained to her how some people are blessed with identifying marks on their skin; some people had birthmarks like she did, some people had things called moles, there were even some people in the world who drew on themselves with ink to mark themselves for life. A fact that astonished little Cosette as she had never known such things were possible.
"You should be glad that you aren't blessed with a giant hairy mole right here" he said touching her nose gently with his fingertip and making her giggle.
"I don't think I'd like that papa" Cosette said with a smile
"Well you needn't worry about that, all you have is this birthmark. It makes you very special my dear girl" Valjean told her, which made her eyes sparkle a little. The poor girl had not heard many compliments in her life so a single one was enough to light up her little face.
"Although…" Valjean said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You would still be special to me without it"
Marius
The first time Marius noticed his wifes birthmark was the morning after his wedding. He had finally seen all of her the previous night but he had been too distracted with loving her to notice the mark on her hip.
He awoke early that February morning feeling happier than he'd ever been; he had gotten everything he had been dreaming about for years last night. His wife was curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder; arm slung around his body, hair let down and splayed out over the pillow. She looked beautiful, even more beautiful than she had in her wedding dress and Marius could have happily stayed there underneath her forever but unfortunately nature called and he couldn't ignore it.
He slipped out from under her, gently placing her head onto the pillow as he slid out of the bed and pulled on some undergarments he had hastily discarded the previous night. He quietly made his way to the washroom attached to their bedroom and relieved his bladder, then splashed some water on his face to wake himself up. They had made love several times last night and hadn't fallen asleep until the early hours of the morning, so they were both exhausted. It was a good exhaustion though Marius thought, and he wouldn't have changed a thing about last night.
He crept quietly back into his bedroom and gazed at his sleeping wife for a few moments. She hadn't stirred at all and looked so peaceful and content. She was lying on her side and the bedsheets had slipped down to her waist leaving her mostly uncovered, instead of wanting to protect her modesty though Marius couldn't help but admire her body, he still felt honoured that he was allowed to see her like this. Every one of her curves he could see was absolutely perfect and he remembered how the previous night he had felt every single one against his own skin. As his eyes wandered to her waist they stopped on something he hadn't noticed before.
She had a birthmark on her hip that he hadn't noticed yet, and he was immediately transfixed by it. Someone else might call it an imperfection, but to Marius nothing about Cosette could be imperfect and it made him love her even more than before.
He crawled back into the bed and touched her hip gently, stroking her birthmark with his fingers. Cosette began to stir then and Marius leaned down to kiss her stomach and hip, and even more of her as he kept going further up.
Cosette awoke with a smile, keeping her eyes shut as she felt Marius lips on her body, slowly working their way upwards from her hip. She sighed happily, and still with her eyes shut she said softly "Again?"
"Oh yes please" Marius whispered with a smile and Cosette rolled onto her back and finally opened her eyes.
"Good morning" he said as he laid himself gently on top of her
"Good morning" she replied, softly stroking his hair. They kissed lovingly for a moment before Marius pulled away from her, just too look at her. God she was beautiful, it almost hurt to look at her she was that gorgeous. Marius could barely believe that she was really his now, that he could see her like this every day and that she was his to take whenever he wanted, it was a dream come true.
"We don't have to be downstairs for hours yet" he said with a sly smile, but then added with concern "You're not too sore are you?"
"No, not at all" She told him honestly
"Good" He said, kissing her again quickly "I'm so glad". He said in between planting more and more kisses on to her lips and face.
He was working Cosette up into a frenzy of giggles as he kissed her and stroked various parts of her body. He stopped when his hand wandered over her hip; he was entranced by that mark on her body.
"You have a birthmark my darling wife" he said whilst stroking her hip "Right here"
"I know" she said, gazing at him, "My papa said it made me special"
"Oh it does" he said with a smile "How did I miss this last night I wonder?"
"You're easily distracted I think" She said, letting her own hands wander down his body until he trembled.
Marius kissed his way down her body before he stopped at her hip, admiring her birthmark again, he stroked it gently with his fingertips and then did something he never would have dreamed of before he met her, he was being seized by a strange lust and he gently ran his tongue over the mark, and then kissed it as Cosette shuddered beneath him.
"Oh…" She gasped, unused to the feeling of his lips down there, and she thought she was going to lose control of her senses when his mouth went even further down. "Jesus…." She whispered, caring not that she was blaspheming and only caring about what her husband was doing.
The End