Cosettes Accident

Jean Valjean awoke slowly one morning, it had been three weeks since he had brought his darling little Cosette home to live with him and they had both settled into their new lives. His favourite part of the day was fast becoming the mornings when he would wake Cosette up with a kiss on the forehead then help her get washed and dressed for the day then prepare her some bread and milk for breakfast. He had fallen hard for that little girl; he couldn't believe how quickly he had fallen in love with her. It wasn't difficult, after a few weeks of proper nutrition and care she had become so adorable that the old man's heart just melted to look at her. He couldn't believe sometimes that she was really his now, his own little girl to raise and look after. Sometimes you don't know how much you need something until you have it, and he needed that little girl desperately, she had become the light of his life.

As he was waking himself up that morning he was aware of a sound, it was a tiny sniffling sound, almost a whimpering. It took him a moment to realise what it was, it was someone crying, no it was Cosette crying!

Valjean was concerned at this, but not overly. "She must have had another nightmare", he thought to himself.
It hadn't been unusual in the past several weeks for Cosette to have nightmares, after what the poor child had been through for most of her life it would have been foolish of Valjean to think that she would have just gotten over her trauma immediately, but with some time and patience and most of all love he knew the child would be alright soon enough.

So as he walked over to Cosettes little room that morning he was prepared to give her lots of comfort and love to help her through the latest crisis. But as he opened the door to her room that morning something seemed different. She looked up at him like she was afraid, she hadn't looked at him with fear in her eyes before, she seemed like she was afraid of him.

"Cosette?" Valjean asked softly

She looked up at him like she was ashamed of something, then she turned her head away from him again, so Valjean knelt down next to the bed so he could be close to her.

"Cosette, what's the matter?" He asked her, but she didn't answer him, she just continued sniffling softly.

"Did you have another nightmare?" He asked

Little Cosette shook her head gently so Valjean put one hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her and he placed his other on the bedsheet near her legs and suddenly he realised what was wrong when he felt a wet patch on the bed.

"Oh…." he said removing his hand from the wet spot and realising the poor girl must have wet the bed during the night. "Oh Cosette…." He said softly to her as he noticed she was still crying.

"It was an accident" Cosette said quietly through her tears

"I know Cosette" Valjean said as he leaned over to kiss her hair gently and give her a hug. Cosette looked surprised at this; she had been expecting a different reaction from him and didn't know what to say to him. When she had wet the bed when she had lived with the Thenardiers she would have been hit and made to wear the soiled clothing all day as punishment, but her papa was being so kind to her instead, it was almost bizarre for the poor girl to receive this kind of reaction.

"Aren't you angry?" Cosette said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"No sweetheart, of course not. It was an accident." He said to her "Don't be upset Cosette, can you give your papa a smile this morning?"

Cosette tried to smile for him but she was feeling embarrassed by the situation and could only manage a weak smile at best.

"Do you want Papa to give you a bath? He asked her "It'll help you feel better".

Cosette nodded her head silently and Valjean helped her off the bed, he prepared the tin bath he kept in one corner of their attic room and set about boiling some water while Cosette stood and watched him whilst still wearing her wet nightdress.

When the bath was all prepared Valjean beckoned Cosette over to him and he helped her off with her nightdress and soiled underwear. He knew she was old enough to undress herself but he had gotten into the habit of helping her get dressed and Cosette seemed to like letting him help her, she had spent a lot of years feeling like a slave and not like a little girl that it was nice to have someone mother her at last so she didn't feel uncomfortable when he undressed her.

Valjean tossed her soiled clothes onto the bed with her wet sheet and then helped Cosette into the bath; she still had some faint marks on her back from being whipped at the hands of the Thenardiers and it made Valjean shudder to see them sometimes.
Whilst Cosette began washing herself Valjean gathered up the wet bedclothes and the sheet into a pile and let them drop to the floor whilst he flipped her mattress over to the dry side. He then picked up the wet items again and went back out into the other room.

"Will you be alright on your own for a moment? These need be washed, I won't be gone long I promise" he said to Cosette who nodded again at him.

Valjean went downstairs to the old woman who he rented the room from and explained to her that Cosette had an accident and asked her if she would get the sheet and nightdress washed for him. The old lady didn't mind too much, especially when Valjean slipped her a couple of coins as a tip in exchange for the favour.

"Certainly Monsieur" she said as she took the soiled items from him and said goodbye.

"There's something strange about those two", the old woman thought afterwards, "Isn't that girl a little bit old to still be pissing herself? And didn't she have a black eye when they first arrived? It's very odd. I don't think the old man's hurting her; she doesn't seem to be scared of him. Oh well, as long as he pays the rent on time, it's none of my business."

Valjean returned to his room and continued helping Cosette bathe, he scrubbed her gently with some soap until she was nice and clean and smelling fresh again. She was unusually quiet during her bath but Valjean assumed she was still feeling embarrassed about wetting the bed so he didn't press the matter and just went about helping her feel better.

After Cosette was clean again Valjean wrapped her in a towel and helped her dry off, she was still staying silent even when Valjean helped her get dressed for the day.

"There now, don't you look lovely" he said to her playfully and gave her a little tap on the nose, Cosette once again only managed a weak smile at this which made Valjeans heart sink a little.

Valjean lifted Cosette up gently and placed her in the big armchair by the fireplace; he knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his.

"Cosette, you don't need to feel embarrassed about what happened" he said to her "It's nothing to be ashamed of, everyone has accidents."

"I know" she said sadly

"And Cosette, you should know this as well". He continued, "You don't have anything to be afraid of anymore, nobody's ever going to hurt you again, I won't let that happen. Papa's here now and I'll keep you safe sweetheart".

"Do you promise?" Cosette asked him sweetly

"I promise Cosette" He said to her, and Cosette finally smiled at him properly that morning and then Valjean pulled her into an embrace.

"I love you papa" Cosette said as she buried her head into his shoulder

"I love you too my darling girl" Valjean said to her as he ran his fingers through her soft hair and kissed her head gently.

When they broke apart Valjean once again tapped her playfully on the nose and this time Cosette giggled adorably at the old man and smiled her sweetest smile for him. And Valjean thought to himself that even if the two of them had a bad morning, it was still his favourite part of the day.

The End