Cosette had lived a long and fruitful life. While her life had been filled with sorrow in the beginning, she grew up in her Papa's love and care. He had taught her to love and forgive. But she was 87, and her life was slowing down. Since last autumn, she had not been as well as she would have liked. Gone were the days of strolling through the gardens of Paris with their children and crawling on the floor with the little ones, but she still passed her time with her family. She and Marius had raised a family of two sons and two daughters, exactly how she had always imagined. Her son, Alexandre, followed in Marius's footsteps and became a lawyer and was happily married with four children. They had been blessed with two sets of twins, which were quite rare and kept Cosette quite busy. Her other son Julien had taken a bit after her in that he was an architect, but his true passion was painting like her. He had yet to settle down, but Marius reasoned that Julien had yet to find the right partner. "If I had not bumped into you, Cosette, I might still be a bachelor now."
Her daughter Marie married a young captain and had two children of her own. Her other daughter Clara seemed to be quite the little adventurer and was currently sailing around the world with her husband and writing about the wonders of the world. While she and Marius would have liked her closer to home, they could not deny her happiness. Clara was expecting, and Cosette hoped she would return home to have the baby.
But Cosette knew deep down that it was unlikely she would see her daughter's baby. The doctor had been by a few days ago after her latest fainting spell and had told Marius that Cosette was not getting better. Marius told her what the doctor said. After he had kept her father's leaving from her, Marius had endeavored to keep Cosette in the loop about all matters.
Cosette was not as sad as she thought she might have been. Her family surrounded her, and Marius was always so doting. She thought about how she was fortunate to have her family around her. Her mind flashed back to her Papa and how he almost died alone. That is what made her sadder than her own fate. Now that she knew what it was like to be near the end of life, she knew how important it was to have family around.
The day she died was quite special. Clara returned to Paris with her husband earlier than Cosette thought. It was apparently a small surprise Marius had planned and had begged Cosette's forgiveness for not telling her.
"Marius, happy surprises can be kept a secret," she had said, kissing him. Marius had relaxed. He truly thought Cosette would have been angry with him.
All of her children and their spouses and the grandchildren were all under one roof. They had eaten a grand dinner and had an enjoyable evening whilst Marie played the piano, and the grandchildren had chased each other around the halls.
Cosette knew that she would not see tomorrow but not wanting to worry, anyone said nothing. She had kissed each of the grandchildren and embraced each of her children. She was thinking about her whole life when she was lying in bed. Marius was beside her, but she knew he wasn't really asleep. Marius was quite worried about her and rarely left her side.
She wondered how she would go. But as she thought this, the door opened. Perhaps one of the grandchildren? But the light coming from the door was brighter than any candle. It was almost as if there was daylight like the sun was on the other side. Cosette held her hand up to shield her eyes, and a woman in white entered.
The light dimmed, and Cosette knew somehow that she knew this woman. "Mama?"