This story came fourth in the Christmas drabble contest at thanks to StefanieBean, my indefatigable beta. I'm so pleased I managed to surprise you in this story.

Set in the Leroux-universe.

Motherhood

He sat up with a wordless scream that subsided into sobs.

Fuzzy-headed with sleep, she thought, not again. She was so tired. She wanted just one night of uninterrupted rest.

Gently she touched his shoulder as he wept into the pillow. He turned around and buried his face in her breast, his scalding hot tears soaking her nightdress. Cradling him in her arms, and rocking back and forth, she whispered, "Hush my darling, it's alright, I'm here."

Gradually his sobbing ceased, as she stroked back the blond curls from his forehead. "Did you have a nightmare?" she asked, knowing the answer already.

"Yes, it was a bad dream, the same one again."

"It's alright now, I'm here, try to get back to sleep."

"I can't, I'm going to dream again. Can't you tell me a story? My favourite?"

With a small sigh, she settled down more comfortably, and started. "Once upon a time, a farmer and his wife were driving home from market. It was late at night, and the farmer pressed his horse to go faster, because his wife was having birth pains. They laughed together at the baby that was in such a hurry. The horse stood quietly in the yard while the husband helped his wife into the house. In the kitchen her legs gave way under her, and she cried out as she sank down on the floor.

The farmer caught the baby in his great hands, and deftly tied and cut the cord. The child squalled loudly. 'My goodness, you were in a hurry, little girl. You didn't let your mother get to her bed!' he laughed.

The mother smiled, as the baby suckled hungrily. 'She has a strong voice, too. I wonder what will become of her…' "

O o o o o O

Resting quietly in her arms, he said, "The baby came quite easily, didn't it?"

"Yes my darling, it did."

"That baby, it was you…"

"Yes, it was."

"Was your mother tired afterwards?"

"She was a little tired, but most of all she was very happy because she had such a lovely baby."

"It didn't hurt too bad, did it, when the baby came?"

"No, my dearest, and she forgot the pain as soon as she held the baby. Mothers always do."

"So having a baby isn't always so hard?"

"No."

"You're not going to die, are you?"

The peasant's daughter thought of a delicate aristocrat, worn out by miscarriages and at the end of her child-bearing years. I'm young, and strong, she reasoned. Not like his mother. Why should I die in childbirth?

She took Raoul's hands and held them against her swollen stomach so that he could feel their child moving inside her.

"No, my darling heart, I'm not going to die. I promise."

And Christine de Chagny kept her word.