I've never given birth, I've only ever seen it on TV so this may not be an entirely accurate portrayal of it. Try not to judge me too harshly please.
One month later the Pontmercy family were gathered in the living room, it was nearly bedtime for the children and they were about to be taken upstairs by the nanny. Marius had hired a live in nanny years ago after their first child Marie had been born, they were quite devoted parents anyway but it was expected of the upper classes to have a nanny to help with the children and after the quick succession of four more children in the household, Jean, Isabel, Courfeyrac, and Léon she proved to be an asset to the family. The children liked her very much, and Cosette was very glad of the help now that she was in her ninth month of pregnancy.
The children were about to say goodnight to their parents when all of a sudden Cosette felt a pain in her abdomen, she knew what it was, it was a contraction, but she still cried out suddenly and grabbed her stomach.
The children froze, Jeans eyes in particular were wide with fear to see his mother suddenly doubled over in pain. He was quite attached to his mother and had never seen her in pain before, not like this anyway.
Marius rushed over to his wife to help her up again. "Is it time?" he asked her, and Cosette nodded with her eyes closed, scrunched up with pain.
Marius instructed the nanny to get the children into bed, he reassured them that their mother was fine and there was nothing to worry about and he said goodnight to them all.
He then helped Cosette get upstairs to their bedroom and helped her change into a nightgown so she would be more comfortable, all their children had been born in this room and Marius felt like they were both experts at this whole thing by now. He had already prepared a little bassinet and put it beside their bed in anticipation of the little person they were expecting.
Marius had insisted on staying with Cosette during each birth and this time would be no different, he knew that it wasn't expected of him, it wasn't expected of men at all in fact but he didn't care, he wasn't going to let Cosette go through this alone.
Cosette was still anxious this time even though it was her sixth birth, she knew exactly what to expect, which was mostly pain, but she couldn't say she wasn't excited at the idea of meeting her new baby at last. Marius had Nicolette fetch a midwife, and when she turned up Cosette was pleased to see that she was the same midwife who had delivered Léon, she had been amazing when she delivered him so Cosette was completely reassured this time too.
After an examination of Cosette though the midwife told them that it was going to be hours yet until the baby would be born and Cosette was dismayed to say the least at the idea of hours of pain.
Another contraction hit Cosette and she screamed; the midwife had encouraged her to move around the bedroom to try to get her waters to break, but after a while of that Cosette got too tired and just lay on the bed instead.
Several hours had passed now and it was after midnight, there was still no baby and Cosette was getting in a state because of the pain. Marius decided he needed a breather, and since Cosette was resting for the moment he decided to step out of the room for a while to gather his thoughts, he opened the bedroom door quietly and was surprised when he saw Jean dressed in his nightshirt scrambling to his feet, the boy had been listening at the door and was caught off guard when Marius opened it.
"Jean what are you doing?" he asked as the boy stood up, his eyes were as wide as saucers. Marius closed the door behind him and looked sternly at his son "Why are you out of bed?"
"I was scared, I heard Mama screaming" Jean said timidly.
Marius felt sorry for his son, he was only seven years old and he looked terrified right now. He hadn't explained to him everything about how babies were born and he realised how scary it must be for him to hear his mother in pain. He was too young to remember when the twins Isabel and Courfeyrac were born, and when Léon arrived he had been in school so he had never seen his mother like this.
He reached out his hand to his son and Jean took it, Marius stroked his hand gently to reassure the young boy that everything was alright.
"You need to go back to bed" Marius said quietly "Come on, I'll take you".
Marius led his son back to the bedroom he shared with his brothers; Courfeyrac was fast asleep, as was Léon who was in a cot in the corner. Marius lifted his son on to the bed and sat him upright for the moment; he knelt beside the bed so he could look his son in the eye and have a talk with him.
"I know you're worried about your mother Jean, but don't be, she'll be fine. You're a good boy to be so concerned about her but I'm looking after her I promise." He said to his son.
"But why is she screaming Papa? Is mama sick?" The boy said quietly
Marius didn't know how to explain the process of childbirth to his seven-year old without scaring him even further, also he was anxious to get back to his wife and just wanted his boy to go back to sleep right now so he could turn his attention back to her.
"No she's not sick" Marius said "Do you remember what I told you about the new baby inside your mother?" He asked the young boy.
Jean nodded, remembering what his father had told him once about where babies come from.
"Your new little brother or sister is just hurting her a little as it's ready to be born" Marius said, "She'll be just fine soon though, and then you'll have a new baby to play with, wont that be nice?"
"I don't want a new baby, I want mama to stop hurting" Jean said with tears in his eyes.
"Just go back to sleep son" Marius said, "Your mothers going to be alright, now lie down".
Marius helped the boy back under the covers and kissed him goodnight, he wished he could do more to comfort him but Cosette needed him more right now so he just tucked the boy in and told him not to leave his room again for the rest of the night.
Hours passed and there was still no baby, Marius was starting to get concerned, even Marie who had been the firstborn hadn't taken this long to arrive. Cosette was just exhausted and was desperate to have this over and done with. It was nearing seven in the morning by the time anything serious started happening and the midwife told Cosette it was time to start pushing.
Cosette was completely wiped out, she had no energy left in her to push a baby out and she was close to tears just from the exhaustion of the whole thing, she just wanted this to be over.
"You need to push now dear, the baby's coming" The midwife said firmly to Cosette
Cosette sat propped up against some pillows and pushed down as hard as she could, she was so exhausted though she barely had any strength left in her to do anything, she was trying so hard but the midwife wasn't seeing anything happen.
"You need to push harder, nothing's happening" she said strictly again to Cosette
"I can't do it" Cosette screamed in exhaustion
"Yes you can Cosette" Marius said, trying to motivate her "You've done this before, you just need to push".
Cosette was beyond tired, she had been in pain all night, she was covered in sweat and she just wanted this to be over. She gritted her teeth and tried to find some strength somewhere, she prayed to herself and she pushed down as hard as she could and then the midwife finally had some good news.
"That's it dear, I can see the head, keep pushing" she said "Alright, stop for a minute, the heads out, just breathe now".
Cosette was panting now like she had been instructed to do and was just focused on the fact that her baby was nearly here.
"One more big push now dear" the midwife said
And with that Cosette pushed the baby out and collapsed backwards onto the bed in relief and exhaustion, she had gotten through it and the baby was born, she felt so glad that it was finally over and she smiled to herself.
But then she realised something was wrong and she tried to sit up again.
"Why isn't it crying?" she asked, feeling very panicked. Her other babies had all been crying almost right away, why wasn't this one crying she thought to herself.
The midwife didn't answer her, she was focused on the baby right now and was trying to clear its mouth of fluid and was rubbing it with a blanket trying to get it to respond. The poor little thing was so still and quiet and Cosette went as white as a sheet.
"Oh God...please no, not my baby" Cosette said, now with tears running down her face "Marius..." she looked up at her husband, as if he could do anything to help. He was looking at the baby, but it wasn't moving. His eyes filled with tears and he took Cosettes hand as if he was about to prepare her for the worst.
It didn't seem real, was their baby dead? It seemed too horrible to be true. It felt like time had stopped and neither of them could breathe.
But then they heard a small shrill cry, and they both breathed again, relieved beyond belief to hear the sound of their little one crying.
The midwife smiled slightly and was wrapping the baby in a small blanket "It's a girl" she said happily, "Congratulations".
The midwife cut the babies cord and placed the little girl in Cosettes arms. The baby stopped crying instantly when Cosette held her and she looked up at her mama with gorgeous blue eyes.
Marius sat on the edge of the bed and was just looking at the tiny little girl and beaming, she was such a beautiful little thing he thought.
"Is she alright" He asked the midwife as Cosette held her baby and cried gently out of sheer happiness.
"The heartbeats strong Monsieur, and her lungs are clear. She said "Sometimes the shock of birth gets to them that's all, but she's perfectly alright now."
Cosette was smiling at her new daughter, "Hello my little one" she whispered to her "Oh you're so beautiful, I knew you'd be a little girl."
Marius put one of his arms around Cosette and kissed her hair gently; she was still looking down at her baby and didn't even notice as the midwife dealt with the afterbirth. She looked up at her husband and smiled.
"Marius, she looks exactly like I dreamed she would" Cosette said to him sweetly
Marius wiped tears from his eyes and smiled at his wife, "I'm so proud of you Cosette" he said quietly to her.
Cosette turned back to her baby and pulled her nightdress down a little so the baby could start suckling, she had breastfed all her babies and it made her feel such a strong bond with them when she did. It was the best feeling any mother could have to be able to feed her baby.
The midwife had packed away her equipment and was getting ready to leave; Marius stood up and went over to her.
"Thank you for everything Madame" He said to her gratefully.
"It was my pleasure Monsieur" she said with a smile on her face "Congratulations again" and with that she let herself out of the bedroom and then left the Pontmercy house.
Marius went back to his wife and sat back in the armchair next to the bed and happily watched Cosette feeding the baby, she was still smiling gleefully, but she was exhausted beyond belief.
"I'm so tired" she said quietly "But I don't want to stop looking at this little one, she's so beautiful".
The baby stopped feeding for the moment and closed her eyes peacefully; Cosette looked like she was on the verge of falling asleep too.
"You should rest darling" Marius said softly, "You're exhausted, let me take her." He took the baby out of Cosettes arms and she lay down again to sleep, her body gave her little choice on the matter.
Marius held his new baby in his arms for the first time and was already in love with her, he was marvelling at her tiny hands and her gorgeous eyes, he kissed her forehead as she rested gently against him, he really felt that this little girl was someone very special and he felt tears in his eyes again just from looking at her.
He looked over at Cosette; who had already fallen asleep. He sat quietly with his little girl for a while and felt so blessed that both his wife and his baby were safe and healthy, he felt like someone was definitely looking down on them that morning and smiling upon them.