"Your father said that the only dates we could get on such short notice were either this Thursday or in two months."
Cosette glanced at Simone. She hadn't looked at her friend since she learned that she was to become her stepmother.
"So I guess we should get you a dress."
"Yes, that would be a good place to start."
And that's how Cosette ended up in a dress shop with her "stepmother".
"How does this look?" Simone asked. She wore a puffy white dress, cut just below her growing bust.
"Not this one. You look pregnant," Cosette sighed. She looked at another rack and pulled a simple white dress off. "Try this."
"How is this going to hide anything? There's no support or–"
"Just try it on. Trust me, it'll compliment your upper half, and, as long as you wear a good corset, will flatten your stomach."
Simone reluctantly brought the dress into the fitting room. A few minutes, she emerged in he perfect dress. It did just what Cosette said it would.
"This is the dress," Simone said, smiling. "Thanks, Cosette."
"No problem," Cosette responded. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Simone was going to be a very lovely bride.
"Now to find you a dress."
A few hours later, the girls were back at home, each with a dress for the wedding. Cosette's father was waiting for them at the kitchen table, skimming a newspaper. He smiled at Cosette when he saw her.
"Did you have fun today, Cosette?" he asked.
'He wants to talk...,' Cosette thought. Simone seemed to suspect it too.
"I'm a bit tired from all of the walking we did. I'm going to go rest," Simone excused herself from what was bound to be an interesting conversation.
When she was gone, Cosette spoke.
"If you're going to ask if I'm okay with the wedding, the answer's no."
Her father sighed. "That's not the only reason I want to talk to you. I know this is a peculiar situation we've put you in, but it's the least I can do."
"There has to be some other way to make whatever you did up to my mother."
"That's-that's not the only reason."
"Then what is it? What could you possibly get out of this arrangement. A young, beautiful wife? In that case, papa, you're a bit late. She's already having someone else's child and–"
"Cosette, you should sit down for this."
Cosette hesitated before sitting across from her father.
"You know I love you, right? Not matter what, you will always come first."
Cosette tried to hold back a smile. "And I love you, papa."
He let out a breath. "That-that does make me feel a little better."
It was then that Cosette realized how important this conversation would be.
"Papa?"
"Cosette, I," he hesitated, "I am getting something out of this marriage. I'm helping Simone, but she's also helping me. Oh, I love you, my child, and I would never do anything that would harm you. In fact, this'll protect you."
Cosette reached out a hand, which her father immediately took in his own.
"Don't cry, papa. Whatever you could say will not change a thing."
He nodded.
"Thank you, dear. C-Cosette, I...I feel for men the way other men feel about...about women."
Cosette looked at her father with surprise for a moment, then with acceptance.
"As long as you love, I don't see any problem with who you love."
Her father looked as though a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Does Simone know this?" Cosette asked.
He nodded. "Simone...she may have caught me, erm, in a...compromising position."
"You didn't have to tell me that!" Cosette laughed as she mimed vomiting. "I may be fine with you liking men, but I'll never be okay with...with that."
He chuckled.
"Thank you, Cosette."
"For what? Being a decent person?"
"For being a great daughter."
They sat in a comfortable silence just looking at each other. Cosette felt extremely grateful to have such a close relationship with her father. After a few minutes, Cosette broke the silence.
"So, who's the lucky man?"
"The-the Inspector. Javert."
Cosette looked more shocked by this than by the revelation that her father preferred men.
"The same Javert that we've been avoiding for years?!"
He nodded. "We were lovers back in Montreuil-sur-Mer. Then, after your mother passed...let's just say it ended badly."
"How so?"
"That's a story for another time, Cosette."
"Does Simone know this one?"
"No, and I don't plan to tell her. Now why don't you start dinner? I'll wake Simone."
After the conversation with her father, Cosette began to accept the wedding. In fact, she began to spend most of her time working on the arrangements.
"Cosette, the wedding's in three days. We have to keep it simple," Simone sighed. Cosette had rambled for almost twenty minutes about what color flowers would look best with Simone's eyes.
"What about the guest list, then?" Cosette asked. "I'm going to ask Marius to come. Maybe you should ask Enjolras–"
"That's a terrible idea. He'd never come. As for Marius...he...he kinda doesn't know about, well, anything."
"You haven't told him?"
"No. I'm terrified to. I know it's stupid, but I'm worried he's going to be mad at me or try to kill Enjolras."
"You have to tell him, Simone. He's going to find out eventually."
"I know," Simone sighed. "I'll tell him tonight."