"You remember when we met, don't you my angel?" asked Erik.
"At the opera house all those years ago, when you made heaven weep at the sound of your voice and I terrorised you all with the whispers through the dark"
"You are far less grumpy now, my love" teased Christine.
"Very funny!" laughed Erik pulling Christine into his arms before the pair overbalanced and landed in a crumpled heap on the carpet.
"Shh! We will wake Gustave" whispered Christine through her laughter.
Erik swung his head to the door "that boy is like me, he can sleep through anything, don't worry"
"Well that is true, he will be a genius like you, composing from sunrise to sunset" she replied with a smile.
"He likes his art better than his piano, but the boy is like you in that sense, determined and stubborn," said Erik gently brushing a wayward curl from Christine's face.
Christine caught his hand and covered his fingers in tiny little kisses.
"Stubborn my love? … I prefer strong willed"
"Very well" sighed Erik happily "he is a very strong-willed boy, but he has ambitions, which I admire"
"My boys" whispered Christine staring up at the portrait of her husband and her son that hung on the wall, how she loved them.
"Come, my love, I believe it will cause quite a stir if the servants find us both on the floor," said Erik raising himself from the carpet and gently lifting Christine up onto her feet.
He gazed down at her, glad for once that she was so small.
Her blue eyes met his gaze and Erik drank in the love that they gave.
She smiled as her gaze drifted towards the window before exclaiming "Look at the stars, they are so bright tonight!"
Erik released her and she ran to the window pressing her tiny hands against the glass, staring up at the night sky that was littered with tiny stars.
Erik smiled at her before calling "my love, they are just stars!"
"No, Erik, come and see"'she called.
With a sigh he obeyed her command and joined her at the window, embracing her from behind and resting his head on hers.
"Aren't they beautiful Erik" breathed Christine.
"I've never liked the stars" he replied.
"Why on earth not!" she exclaimed.
"I've always thought them to be so distant, they are such a cold light, not like the sun" he replied.
"My darling, stars are not cold, they are memory!. Remember when you would take me to the top of the Opera House to show me the city, every time I see the stars I remember that night" she replied.
"How could I forget" chuckled Erik.
"You won't ever forget me... will you Erik?" she asked turning around to face him, her eyes staring up at his, those eyes that shone like golden orbs.
"My angel, how could I ever forget you" he smiled placing a kiss on her forehead.
"Papa?"
Erik spun round and saw his son, standing by the door holding his candle "Gustave, what's wrong?"
"You were talking to someone" he replied glancing towards the empty space between his father and the window.
"No I wasn't, I wasn't talking to anyone, I was just reading aloud" replied Erik quickly.
"But Papa... you don't have a book" Gustave replied.
Erik sighed "go back to bed Gustave, I will come and tuck you in again, I will just be a moment"
"Yes Papa" he replied and disappeared back through the doorway.
Erik turned back to the window and placed his hand on the glass, his Christine had disappeared. He looked up at the night sky and saw the stars glistening as a single tear escaped from his eyes.
"No my angel, I will never forget you".